No emergency Chicken Choked to death? Just wanted some info what to do if it happened again

[witland]

Thank you for the information. Hopefully I won't need to use it anytime soon, but it's good to know what to do in case it happens again. In the 3 1/2 years I have had my 8 girls, this is my first loss.

 

[Saaniya]

I had a chicken die from something lodged in her throat. Liquid came up after I had tried to shake her to dislodge the obstruction, then she died. She had been eating cherry tomatoes along with the rest of the flock.

Not long after that, I had another hen eat a cherry tomato and stop breathing. I was right there, so I saw her panic, run around, then keel over when she ran out of air. I grabbed her and massaged her crop, and miraculously, the obstruction cleared, and she began to breathe again.

I asked a chicken expert if there was such a thing as a "chicken Heimlich". He said yes, indeed there is. You grab the choking chicken by the feet, making sure you have plenty of room, and swing her in a downward motion between your feet. Gravity and centrifugal force should dislodge any obstruction.

I haven't had to use it, though. I try to cut up any cherry tomatoes that are larger than usual.

You can't have chickens without losing a few to a learning curve. It's very painful when you have a chicken in distress and you don't know what to do. We've all been there.

If something lodged in their windpipe they become anxious? Gasping fast and their comb turn black . One of my friend have this experience when she give mouth blow then chicken back to Normal she believes she mishandled her while picking up