HELP! My hen's tongue is hanging out under her beak.

[morgannieee]

Today I noticed that my lovely hen was injured. Her tongue was hanging out underneath her beak. This is my first time owning chickens, so I have no idea what to do.
Here is a picture of her.

 

[Eggcessive]

Welcome to BYC. I have seen pictures of this before here on BYC, perhaps from an injury or wound to the bottom of the beak. Can you see an injury or opening? I will look and try to find the thread I had seen before, and get back to you.

 

[Eggcessive]

I'm having trouble finding the thread. I did find one where a chicken swallowed her tongue. I would try to get her to a vet tomorrow. If that isn't possible, you could get the tongue back in place, and try to heal, suture, or super glue the opening so that it will close. Can she eat and drink? You could make a mash of her feed with water so that she is getting some nourishment. Please update us tomorrow.

 

[enola]

How is your hen?

 

[LeafBlade12345]

Op, is your hen getting on alright?

 

[YorkshireChickens]

Today I noticed that my lovely hen was injured. Her tongue was hanging out underneath her beak. This is my first time owning chickens, so I have no idea what to do.
Here is a picture of her.

I just wanted to post about our experience as we have recently had a hen who has had this exact same issue and we were completely at a loss with with to do with her. Fortunately, she saw a really good vet and is now fixed up and sorted! So I wanted to post for the next poor sucker who has to deal with this issue because it is so rare and a real head scratcher!

Our lovely hen, Ginger, appeared with this weird thing below her beak. At first I thought it was a growth and her normal vet didn't have a clue! I then posted on a chicken fb page and someone commented that it could be her tongue. This was a real shock but then found three other posts on back yard chickens who had the same issue, but sadly no update. So it is possible but rare. We eventually managed to find a lovely vet who specialises in unusual and exotic pets - she was still very confused as we couldn't find a hole under her beak. After a bit of gentle prodding around she eventually found a tiny hole in her neck!!! The vet recommend her sharp tongue could have pierced the skin of her neck and worked its way outside (see picture drawn by vet). She said the barbs at the base of a chicken's tongue probably made it impossible for her to pull her tongue back through the hole and so it was stuck!

She was most worried about infections and that she was probably in quite a bit of discomfort, mainly because of the barbs. So we agreed to put her under general and get the tongue moved back into place and stitch the hole back up. £300 later and Ginger is now back home, recovering well! Hopefully she has many more happy years of life ahead of her!

Bottom line, if your chicken ever gets their tongue stuck under their beak, take them to an avian vet (a normal vet will not know enough) and expect to pay a fair amount to get it fixed. Do not attempt to do it yourself, it would not be possible and would cause them a great deal of pain. The vet said it was very fiddly and had to be done under general because the hole was so small and heals fast around the base of the tongue.

Hope this helps the next person who has to deal with it.