Esophagus Pulled Out of Beak

[WebsterChicken]

Hello Everyone,

I tried looking in the forum for an answer to this one, but I couldn't find anything.

I went to collect eggs today and noticed that one of my chickens had a large, bulbous mass on its face. I went in to collect him--it was a rooster--and that's when I figured out that thing was protruding from its beak. I took him to the vet and found out that his esophagus was hanging out of his beak. The vet had never seen anything like this before. He guessed that maybe it could have been the result of fighting among the chickens, but he thought that was probably not the case. Chickens normally peck at the back of a head. They don't normally pull out their adversaries' tongues. Unfortunately, the poor thing would have slowly died of thirst or hunger and so the vet euthanized it.

Has this happened to anyone else? If it was murder, I have a suspect who might become banished from the coop before she can cause any more mayhem. If it's a disease or vitamin deficiency, I should intervene right away before any of the other chickens get sick.

 

[Alaskan]

I have NEVER heard of something so odd.

I can't think of how such a thing might have happened .

Must have been traumatic for the rooster and for you.

 

[BlueBaby]

Hello Everyone,

I tried looking in the forum for an answer to this one, but I couldn't find anything.

I went to collect eggs today and noticed that one of my chickens had a large, bulbous mass on its face. I went in to collect him--it was a rooster--and that's when I figured out that thing was protruding from its beak. I took him to the vet and found out that his esophagus was hanging out of his beak. The vet had never seen anything like this before. He guessed that maybe it could have been the result of fighting among the chickens, but he thought that was probably not the case. Chickens normally peck at the back of a head. They don't normally pull out their adversaries' tongues. Unfortunately, the poor thing would have slowly died of thirst or hunger and so the vet euthanized it.

Has this happened to anyone else? If it was murder, I have a suspect who might become banished from the coop before she can cause any more mayhem. If it's a disease or vitamin deficiency, I should intervene right away before any of the other chickens get sick.

I'm not sure what might have happened either, as I never heard of this before. But, if you are suspecting someone who might not like roosters crowing of doing something to him, I would keep that person away from my chickens, and even padlock them up if I had to.

 

[Eggcessive]

That is very odd. Did you take any pictures? Was the crop exposed as well? I have seen pictures here on BYC of tongues that have become swollen and have protruded like a balloon from the beak.

 

[Alaskan]

That is very odd. Did you take any pictures? Was the crop exposed as well? I have seen pictures here on BYC of tongues that have become swollen and have protruded like a balloon from the beak.

true... on swollen tongues etc.

 

[BlueBaby]

Let me call in a couple of other people who might know something about this.

@Wyorp Rock @KikisGirls

 

[Kiki]

I'm sorry.
Did you happen to get pictures of this mass?

 

[Hazelbunny]

Oh wow I have never seen or heard of that happening! I don't think it was from a fight either. Was there anything else wrong or unusual about him?

 

[WebsterChicken]

I did not take any pictures. It was so large I thought that the gizzard and esophagus had come out. The vet said that was not the case; it was "just" the esophagus. It was pretty gross. I thought of taking pictures, but I didn't want to be confronted with it on a regular basis.

I don't suspect any human actors here. He was young enough that he hadn't started crowing. He hatched last September. He was a silkie so he was starting to develop that telltale "walnut" above his beak. That's how I knew he was a rooster. He was quite pretty before he ejected his throat.

 

[WebsterChicken]

I just remembered that he did have wry neck a few weeks after he was hatched. I gave him some vitamin supplements and it cleared up a couple of weeks later. He hasn't shown any wry neck symptoms now for months.