WolfLady
Chirping
Hi!
I'm trying to understand what's going on with one of my hen, I'll do summary over 5 days in case it can be helpful:
Day 1: She was slightly weaker and wobbly, nothing concerning.
Day 2: I decided to give her dewormer and deworm the whole flock, just in case. About 2 hours after deworming (could be coincidence, but mentioning just in case), she became even more wobbly with no balance. When she would try to peck something, she would literally back flip and end up on her back, and struggle to shift herself upward again. I took her indoor away from the flock.
Day 3: She was very aware of everything going on, would cluck a bit when I talk to her, but couldn't move at all. Her head was spinning around like an owl, she had no control on it at all (couldn't even hold it upright) and couldn't eat/drink herself. I made her a blended mix of her regular feed with water, vitamins, calcium, egg yellow, honey, lentils and apple puree. I gave her some with a dropper on the edge of her beak every 2 hours (except at night), she would swallow it happily. I would also move her around different position to avoid her getting sores.
Day 4: Woke up to her walking around her quarantine crate, clucking happily. Still wobbly, but able to walk and hold her head, however having random episode of her head jerking around a bit (see video). Kept her the whole day, but she was suuuuper hyper and eager to get out, so at night I took her back into the coop before she hurts herself (I know, should probably have kept her quarantined, but she was SO hyper, I was truly worried she would hurt herself).
Day 5: She clucks, eats, scratches the ground, grooms herself, etc normally. However, she's still wobbly and still has random episode of her head jerking (see video).
(Updated 02/22) Day 6: She's almost not wobbly anymore and yet I didn't witnessed any head jerking for the moment.
Video:
The head jerking happen in short episode of 1-2 minutes, it's not full time. She has no control over it, on the cam I saw it happened also when she sleeps (it wakes her up and she goes back to sleep when it's over).
Answer to questions:
1) What type of bird , age and weight (does the chicken seem or feel lighter or thinner than the others.)
She is a mutt (Orpington, Chanteclerc, Brahma and perhaps other breeds in the mix). She is 7 months old. She feels a bit thinner than usual, but I'm not sure, could be just from her lack of eating of the last days.
2) What is the behavior, exactly.
(See resume above)
3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms?
Been 5 days today.
4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms?
Not at all.
5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma.
No sign of trauma, no wounds.
6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation.
Could be either out of nowhere or from the dewormer (but seems unlikely considering it started before + it's a dewormer she already had in the past without issues).
7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all.
She stopped eating and drinking on Day 2. Before that, she was eating normally and didn't had access to anything that could have intoxicated her (well, except the litter on the ground). She started eating and drinking herself on Day 4.
8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc.
Totally normal, not runny at all, no funky color nor smell.
9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far?
Regular food and vitamined mix (regular feed with water, vitamins, calcium, egg yellow, honey, lentils and apple puree).
10 ) What is your intent as far as treatment? For example, do you want to treat completely yourself, or do you need help in stabilizing the bird til you can get to a vet?
If possible, treating her myself, the nearest vet is a specialist that is very expensive (talking about 150$+ by single visit).
11) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help.
See video.
12) Describe the housing/bedding in use
Insulated room into a barn, heated at 5 degrees in winter (since winter here can go down to -40). Access to different perches of different heights, plateforms and 9 nesting box in stainless. Pine shaving and fresh hay bedding (I have access to crushed stone or peat bedding - if ever changing to one of those is recommend).
----
Thank you for your time and hopefully, someone may have an idea of what's going on with my girl ^_^
I'm trying to understand what's going on with one of my hen, I'll do summary over 5 days in case it can be helpful:
Day 1: She was slightly weaker and wobbly, nothing concerning.
Day 2: I decided to give her dewormer and deworm the whole flock, just in case. About 2 hours after deworming (could be coincidence, but mentioning just in case), she became even more wobbly with no balance. When she would try to peck something, she would literally back flip and end up on her back, and struggle to shift herself upward again. I took her indoor away from the flock.
Day 3: She was very aware of everything going on, would cluck a bit when I talk to her, but couldn't move at all. Her head was spinning around like an owl, she had no control on it at all (couldn't even hold it upright) and couldn't eat/drink herself. I made her a blended mix of her regular feed with water, vitamins, calcium, egg yellow, honey, lentils and apple puree. I gave her some with a dropper on the edge of her beak every 2 hours (except at night), she would swallow it happily. I would also move her around different position to avoid her getting sores.
Day 4: Woke up to her walking around her quarantine crate, clucking happily. Still wobbly, but able to walk and hold her head, however having random episode of her head jerking around a bit (see video). Kept her the whole day, but she was suuuuper hyper and eager to get out, so at night I took her back into the coop before she hurts herself (I know, should probably have kept her quarantined, but she was SO hyper, I was truly worried she would hurt herself).
Day 5: She clucks, eats, scratches the ground, grooms herself, etc normally. However, she's still wobbly and still has random episode of her head jerking (see video).
(Updated 02/22) Day 6: She's almost not wobbly anymore and yet I didn't witnessed any head jerking for the moment.
Video:
Answer to questions:
1) What type of bird , age and weight (does the chicken seem or feel lighter or thinner than the others.)
She is a mutt (Orpington, Chanteclerc, Brahma and perhaps other breeds in the mix). She is 7 months old. She feels a bit thinner than usual, but I'm not sure, could be just from her lack of eating of the last days.
2) What is the behavior, exactly.
(See resume above)
3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms?
Been 5 days today.
4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms?
Not at all.
5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma.
No sign of trauma, no wounds.
6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation.
Could be either out of nowhere or from the dewormer (but seems unlikely considering it started before + it's a dewormer she already had in the past without issues).
7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all.
She stopped eating and drinking on Day 2. Before that, she was eating normally and didn't had access to anything that could have intoxicated her (well, except the litter on the ground). She started eating and drinking herself on Day 4.
8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc.
Totally normal, not runny at all, no funky color nor smell.
9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far?
Regular food and vitamined mix (regular feed with water, vitamins, calcium, egg yellow, honey, lentils and apple puree).
10 ) What is your intent as far as treatment? For example, do you want to treat completely yourself, or do you need help in stabilizing the bird til you can get to a vet?
If possible, treating her myself, the nearest vet is a specialist that is very expensive (talking about 150$+ by single visit).
11) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help.
See video.
12) Describe the housing/bedding in use
Insulated room into a barn, heated at 5 degrees in winter (since winter here can go down to -40). Access to different perches of different heights, plateforms and 9 nesting box in stainless. Pine shaving and fresh hay bedding (I have access to crushed stone or peat bedding - if ever changing to one of those is recommend).
----
Thank you for your time and hopefully, someone may have an idea of what's going on with my girl ^_^
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