A chick that can't make sound?

[MissouriChick]

I've noticed that one of my 3 1/2 week old chicks does this thing where he/she opens his mouth as if to "cluck", even sticks its head forward a bit, and then closes its mouth again. It really looks like it is trying to make noise but nothing will come out.
The only other idea that I had was that maybe is was digesting something and that motion helped it move down? Now that I've written that down, though, that sounds kind of silly.
Any ideas?

 

[chickenbottom]

she could be having a hard time breathing try a bit of olive oil how is the crop?

 

[MissouriChick]

Quote:
The "crop"? I'm sorry, I'm new to all of this so I'm not sure what you're asking

. Are you referring to the other chicks or something else?

 

[chickenbottom]

its the lump on the breast of the chick, is it hard is it squishy. smell the chicks breathe to see if its a sour smell

 

[The Chickens' Maid]

Sorry, I can't help with the chick problem, but the chicken's crop is on their lower neck; it's where they grind up their food. If it's really hard, that's bad. If it's soft and squishy, that's normal. You sometimes have to take into account what they've just eaten. With my birds, sometimes I've felt their crop right after they've eaten their feed and it's kind of hard. They digest quickly, though! If you go to the "Learning Center" on BYC's home page, under "Chicken Anatomy" it has some good diagrams. You can also Google "Chicken Anatomy" to get some internal diagrams. This has really helped me, since internal problems are not my strong point. Hope your chick is OK!

 

[JennsPeeps]

A quick correction here.

Crop: essentially a "holding bag" for the food. A bird fills its crop and the food stays there until it goes to the gizzard.

Gizzard: an organ containing small rocks. The gizzard is a strong muscle that uses the rocks to crush and grind the food before the food heads farther into the intestinal tract.

 

[The Chickens' Maid]

Sorry, my mistake.

 

[chickenguysmom]

Quote:
I don't know why but that made me laugh. I got a really good visual of someone doing this. Luckily I haven't had to smell their breath. Is it worse than my kids morning breath???

LOL

 

[chickenbottom]

well if its a sour smell it could have a sour crop and it is very harmful