Chicken keeping head tilted to one side

It_is_I_Rae

Songster
Oct 30, 2019
298
342
181
One of my chickens is keeping her head tilted to the side and I'm kind of worried about her. She is eating and drinking but she's acting kind of lethargic. Is there something seriously wrong with her and do I need to be concerned?
 
Sorry about your chicken. She may be suffering from wry neck, also called torticolis or crook neck. It can be a sign of head or neck injury, vitamin E deficiency, and sometimes seen as an early sign of Mareks disease, fowl cholera, and some others. It is very common. Give her 400 IU of vitamin E daily along with some extra thiamine (B1) which you can find in chick vitamins, B complex, and in some foods. A little cooked egg is good as well for selenium. Make sure that she is able to get enough food and water, and you may need to offer her food made mushy with water and feed her 3 times a day. It varies how long they may suffer from this depending on the cause.
 
Update: she's not really acting lethargic today, she seems to be her feisty self, but her head is still tilted to the side. She doesn't really seem to have trouble eating and drinking, which is good. Does it seem more likely that she injured it rather than it being caused by illness?
 
IMG_20191219_122647.jpg
IMG_20191219_122712.jpg

Here are some pictures. They aren't very good and it's kinda hard to tell that her head is tilted, I'm sorry.
 
Update: she's not really acting lethargic today, she seems to be her feisty self, but her head is still tilted to the side. She doesn't really seem to have trouble eating and drinking, which is good. Does it seem more likely that she injured it rather than it being caused by illness?

It's hard to know the cause of head tilt - could be from injury, to vitamin deficiency or disease like Marek's.
I would try vitamin therapy as suggested in Post#3

How old is she? What do you feed, including treats?
Her beak looks a bit long in the photo, if you think it might be, then give it a little trim, she may be having a hard time eating(?) Check her crop at night, see if she's filled up.
Also, it would be worth taking a look inside her ears just to make sure mites or ear infection is not the cause of the head tilt.
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom