Stick! Or just over excited?

[countrycluckin]

So... we had our first 'field' trip with our 5 week old chicks. All was going well until my favorite little EE, Violet, ate a stick.... a stick! Is that normal? I can feel it in her crop/neck. She's been doing this hiccup/chirp since and shakes her head, every minute or so. She's eating and drinking well and running around like nothing is amiss though. Should I be concerned? I already had a near panic attack when they all began sun bathing, but I thought for sure they were dying of heat stroke. Advice please?

 

[flewdacoop]

i would say if its a stick you need to get it out, because it will take a long time for it to breakdown for the chick to digest it. but if your not too sure if you can get it out i would ask the vet and see what they say... just my 2 cents

 

[countrycluckin]

We don't have vets for chickens in these parts....

....any suggestions for getting a chick to keep her beak open? I'm going to keep an eye on her to see if things improve before trying anything too stressful. She's such a good girl... very friendly and always insists to be in someone's lap and attacks the other chicks when they try to get into mine. It's cute and funny.... Myself and my 7yr old son would be devastated if anything happened to her.

 

[countrycluckin]

So... I watched Violet all night. Within an hour or so of posting this thread, she stopped the hiccup/bark/cough/twitch thing. She's acted perfectly normal (maybe more hyper) and is eating drinking and pooing just fine. We went out for another 'field trip' today... and she started doing the hiccup/bark/cough/twitch AGAIN. But when i put her and her friends back into their pen, she stops. Could she just be overly excited??? I haven't had chickens, so I don't know what is normal behavior.