Chick doesn't seem to be getting any nutrition *Update: something wrong with her tongue?*

[grammargorilla]

Hi, I'm a first-timer here and with raising chickens. We have six chicks that are just over six weeks old.

One of our chicks, a Rhode Island Red, has some kind of neck/digestive problem. We noticed about five days ago that she couldn't close her mouth or peep, though she was breathing. There was a large lump in her neck, so we guessed that she'd swallowed something a little big for her and just hoped it would go away.

The next day, the lump was farther down and she was eating, drinking, and peeping. There was no lump in the days after that, but she had grass, grit and food stuck on the top and bottom of her mouth as if it wasn't going down, and by then she was noticeably lighter than the others. Today, she keeps stopping and going to sleep standing up while the other chicks run around her- it seems like she is tired from not getting anything to eat.

I've looked up sour crop and impacted, but she doesn't seem to have anything in her crop at all. She's pretty much skin and bones! She has been holding her head hunched down between her shoulders with her feathers ruffled, and even if I gently move it, I can't get her to straighten up like the others.

If anyone could advise me how to fix this or ease her pain, that would be greatly appreciated.

 

[groundpecker]

Sometimes things happen to chicks. It may have eaten something large and it is now stopping her up. There is not much you can do except surgery and it probably would not turn out so well. I hope the chick makes it.

I have no experience with this problem, but maybe someone who does can chime in if i am wrong.

 

[grammargorilla]

An update and more questions:

The chick seems to be doing a little better. She's walking around more and even running a little, and she finally pooped, though it's been white and runny.
I got her to open her mouth to clean out some gunk in it, and I noticed something weird- her tongue is shoved down. It ends just a little bit past where the others' tongues begin, and I think that's why she's holding her neck funny. She's regained a bit of mobility in her neck in the past two days, though. Do you think it'll heal itself?

Also, is there a way for us to hand-feed her to ensure that she gets something down?