If you own chickens, you likely know that these birds love to eat.
They will run to you if they think you’re about to feed them and gobble up anything you give them.
But, what if your chicken is having trouble swallowing? This article looks into why this may be happening.
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Chicken trouble swallowing:
Food is essential for chickens, it keeps them healthy and happy.
So, a bird that can’t swallow will understandably be very worrying to you.
Here is why this may be happening with your bird:
Canker:
One of the reasons why your bird may have a hard time swallowing may be because the bird has a condition called canker.
The name refers to a parasite that affects parts of the bird’s digestive tract namely the throat, crop, and other internal areas.
It causes cheesy yellow lesions to develop in the bird’s throat.
Other signs of canker in your bird, apart from the difficulty swallowing, include weight loss, puffed-up feathers, vomiting, an accumulation of mucous in the throat, and difficulty breathing to name a few.
What to do:
If you think that your bird has this condition, then you’d need to take the bird to the vet.
Taking your bird to the vet is recommended because you can only get a definite diagnosis of this condition if the lesions are examined under a microscope.
Your vet will prescribe antiparasitic treatments for your bird’s condition if the bird does have canker.
The medications come in pill form or powder form.
Food in crop:
If your bird seems to be having trouble getting food past its throat, into its stomach, then the bird doesn’t have trouble swallowing, it simply has food stored in its crop.
Chickens are prey animals, they are attacked by almost every predator there is.
Because of this, their bodies needed to evolve the best they can to keep themselves safe. One way of keeping themselves safe is by using their crop.
The crop is a pouch at the end of the bird’s throat that stores food.
This pouch allows chickens to quickly eat large amounts of food, store it in their crop, move away to somewhere safe, and digest the food slowly later on.
When a chicken’s crop is full, the bird will look like it has a large bulge at the end of its throat.
This may be what you’re seeing if you think that the bird has trouble swallowing.
What to do:
This is perfectly normal and is not something that you would need to worry about.
The bird’s crop should empty its contents into the stomach in about 2-4 hours.
Once empty, the bird will look normal as the bulge would have gone down.
Crop impaction:
This is similar to having a full crop but it happens when a blockage develops in the bird’s crop.
If your bird eats foreign objects, like rocks, small toys, too much sand, litter, synthetic or natural strands, or, if the bird eats tall grass, then the bird may develop an impacted crop (a blocked crop).
These items will collect at the bottom of the bird’s crop and cause the blockage.
This blockage won’t allow food to pass down into the bird’s stomach.
This is a serious condition, a bird who has an impacted crop, and isn’t treated, will soon starve as food won’t be able to reach the bird’s stomach.
What to do:
You would need to feel the bird’s crop to determine if the bird’s crop is impacted.
A normal crop, that is full of food, will feel full but not hard, an impacted crop will feel hard.
The treatment for this condition is massaging the bird’s crop to break up the mass.
It is recommended that you give the bird some vegetable oil to drink before massaging as a way of lubricating the blockage and helping to break the blockage up.
It is also recommended that you massage downwards to keep the bird from throwing up and to allow the mass to move down the bird’s digestive system.
If massaging doesn’t work then you may need to take the bird to the vet to be treated, crop impaction may need surgery.
If you enjoyed this article then you may also be interested in other bird related articles. Here are some articles that you may be interested in: Baby Cockatiel Not Begging For Food, Baby Chick Losing Weight, Why Is My Chicken Not Gaining Weight, Chick Not Gaining Weight, Baby Chick Feathers Not Fluffy, How To Help A Choking Chicken, Chicken Looks Like It’s Choking, Baby Chick Having Trouble Swallowing, Chicken Can’t Swallow Food