Chickens may seem quite hardy, and seem to shake things off quite easily, but these birds can become injured, get sick and they can choke.
This article looks into how you can stop your bird from choking
Table of Contents
How to stop a chicken from choking:
If you suspect that your chicken is choking you can follow these steps to help your choking bird:
Fish it out:
Start off by opening the bird’s mouth and looking in, look to see if you can see the object causing the choking.
If you can see the object, and can reach in and remove it with your fingers or a pair of tweezers, then go ahead and do this.
Tip: Be gentle and go slow when you do this. The bird is scared so being rough with it can make the situation more difficult. You can also injure the bird if you are not gentle.
Turn the bird upside down:
If you think that your chicken is choking on a liquid then flipping the bird upside down may help get the liquid out.
Turn the bird’s whole body upside down but don’t restrain the bird’s head when you do this.
Turning the bird upside down will allow gravity to bring the liquid, that is stuck in the bird’s throat, up and out.
Heimlich maneuver:
If you look into your bird’s mouth, and you realize that you can’t get the blockage out using tweezers, or, if you’ve tried tweezers and can’t get the blockage out, then try the Heimlich maneuver.
This is similar to how you would do the Heimlich maneuver on humans.
To do this hold the bird around its waist and quickly pull inwards and upwards.
The blockage in the bird’s throat should come out after a few thrusts.
Seek medical attention:
If the blockage doesn’t seem to be coming out then you may need to take the bird to the vet.
The vet will be able to remove the blockage from your birds throat.
Tips:
Stay calm as you help the bird. You being calm will keep the bird from becoming more stressed and getting more anxious.
If you’re freaking out then the bird will freak out and this will make it harder to help the bird.
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: Why Does My Bird Put His Head Down?, Why Does My Cockatiel Sit In The Corner?, Cockatiel Swaying Side To Side, Why Does My Cockatiel Flap Its Wings Really Fast?, Cockatiel Sleeping On Me, String Stuck In Chicken’s Throat, How To Save A Choking Chick, How To Tell If Your Chicken Is Choking, Baby Chick Choking On Water