chrismahon
Well-known member
Cock with no tongue? At least that's what it looked like, even after close inspection.
Merlin is a 4 year old Blue Laced Wyandotte. He has been struggling with his breathing. He also has an unidentified infection and is on antibiotics, showing some improvement but still struggling with breathing. Because he can't breathe that well he isn't very active, but is still eating and drinking as normal. He doodles a lot and is getting more frequent as he improves but often emits a loud 'croak' on breathing in before crowing. This started to develop about 6 months ago.
I struggle to administer any medication with the Wyandottes, particularly him, because they often breathe it in and choke. No other breeds we have do this. Today was no better so I had a close look and discovered he had no tongue! Nothing in that area at all! Even closer inspection eventually revealed the tip of his tongue well down his throat. Feeling his neck and it seems that the whole tongue 'assembly' has dropped down, closing the airways and throat down and restricting his breathing. But he can eat OK because his tongue (and the whole assembly) rides back up his throat to collect grain, pellets and bits of apple. So I then looked at the totally unrelated hens. They also have tongues set well back down the throat, but not as far down as Merlin's. I believe they have airways under the tongue so with it set low it would explain why they choke unless medication is applied well down the throat. In Merlin's case 'well down' is half a syringe length.
Have we got some weird Wyandottes or is it a Wyandotte trait that I had not discovered before? I know it's a big ask, but please could other Wyandotte owners have a look at theirs relative to the other breeds and see if the same thing is evident?
Merlin is a 4 year old Blue Laced Wyandotte. He has been struggling with his breathing. He also has an unidentified infection and is on antibiotics, showing some improvement but still struggling with breathing. Because he can't breathe that well he isn't very active, but is still eating and drinking as normal. He doodles a lot and is getting more frequent as he improves but often emits a loud 'croak' on breathing in before crowing. This started to develop about 6 months ago.
I struggle to administer any medication with the Wyandottes, particularly him, because they often breathe it in and choke. No other breeds we have do this. Today was no better so I had a close look and discovered he had no tongue! Nothing in that area at all! Even closer inspection eventually revealed the tip of his tongue well down his throat. Feeling his neck and it seems that the whole tongue 'assembly' has dropped down, closing the airways and throat down and restricting his breathing. But he can eat OK because his tongue (and the whole assembly) rides back up his throat to collect grain, pellets and bits of apple. So I then looked at the totally unrelated hens. They also have tongues set well back down the throat, but not as far down as Merlin's. I believe they have airways under the tongue so with it set low it would explain why they choke unless medication is applied well down the throat. In Merlin's case 'well down' is half a syringe length.
Have we got some weird Wyandottes or is it a Wyandotte trait that I had not discovered before? I know it's a big ask, but please could other Wyandotte owners have a look at theirs relative to the other breeds and see if the same thing is evident?
