i had a chick start choking HELP!

[baxtor698]

i just had my chick who is 3 days old start choking and i am not sure why. he was eating his start and grow and so far has not had any problems with it but then i noticed something was wrong when he kept putting his head up and seemed like he was gasping for air and he wouldn't make any sounds. i quickly tried to see if some water would help it go down and he did drink some of it, but then it seemed like the feed doubled in size. then i found the smallest thing i could, which was an eyeglasses repair kit screwdriver, and was able to fish the feed out. he then began chirping again and was able to drink some water and he is fine now. my question is, how do i prevent this from happening again and did i do the right thing or is there another, safer way to help my little guy out? thank you so much!

 

[Shared Acres]

How big is the feed you are feeding them? Maybe you need to mash it down some?

Probably just a fluke.

 

[Laskaland]

Make sure you have water close to the feed and make sure you are giving them crumbles and not pellets. They should not be choking. Like the person above, I would think it's a fluke...

 

[Four Acre Bliss]

Run the feed through a coffee grinder to make it finer. We did that until they were about 3-4 weeks old.

How scary! I'm glad he or she is okay.

 

[baxtor698]

thanks for the concern, i think that it is a fluke too. it is called Purina start and grow. we got it from the feed store and it is really small out of the bag. so hopefully he will be okay from now on. i will make sure that he does not eat any of the big pieces again. thanks again.