Month old chick with string stuck in its mouth

[Celcampbell23]

Help! I have a month old chick that got ahold of a string. I tried gently pulling it and when I did her tongue would come with it like it was like it was attached to her tongue but it seemed like it was attached underneath. I looked for ages and there was no indication that it was wrapped around her tongue.

There was no evidence that her blood supply was cut off on her tongue either. I ended up clipping the string up next to her skin on the under side of her tongue. She’s eating and drinking but keeps opening her mouth like there is something stuck in there but I can’t find anything left!

I don’t know where the string could be or anywhere else I could check. Has anyone experienced this before or know anything about how something would be stuck under a chicks tongue and not around it?

 

[azygous]

You sure have a dilemma. Chicks are so tiny, it's difficult to get a good look into the miniature maw.

You need someone to hold the chick while holding its beak wide open so you can get a close look with a strong flashlight. Look on the chick's right side of its throat and see if the string is trailing into the esophagus leading to its crop.

If you can't see it, it may be working its way down the esophagus into the crop. If it's a slender string, it may pass through the digestive system and get pooped out in about 24 hours. If it's a fat string, it could be big trouble if its not able to pass out of the tiny crop.

The remedy for that is crop surgery, pretty difficult on such a tiny thing.

 

[coach723]

It may be wrapped around way down. If it's still wrapped then the chick could end up swallowing it's tongue. Did you use tweezers and a flashlight to look? Have someone else hold the chick for you so you can use both hands and look thoroughly. Sometimes they swallow a wad and only a tiny bit is wrapped around the tongue.

 

[Celcampbell23]

Thank you both! I wrapped it in a towel earlier and used a flashlight and tweezers to lift its tongue. It looked like the string just stopped right under its tongue. Once I clipped it, there was a tiny speck left that came loose and I got that out with the tweezers also. Once it was gone, there was literally nothing else I could even see. It didn’t seem to wrap around the tongue at all but to only be attached underneath which was what seemed the most odd to me! I have checked the tongue periodically and it looks normal, chick is eating drinking and scratching in the brooder. Is there anything else I should be watching for?

 

[coach723]

Maybe just give it some time. Maybe there is some small swelling or irritation that is bothering it, and it will resolve. Eating and drinking a scratching around is good. Keep an eye on it, see how it goes.