Hen circling/ loss of balance/ tremor. Help!!

[Cosmoschaos]

Have an adult New Hampshire Red (about 4yrs old). For about a week now, noticed she had one eye partially closed and began circling. She continued to eat and drink. Eventually she kept her eyes open like normal but she seemed off. She had a slight head tilt and a slight droopy comb. Her cluck is also deeper. She isnt having trouble breathing. Everything else is normal looking. Began giving her 'Poultry nutri drench' for the past 2 days. However today she didnt really eat and barely was drinking water and wasnt able to give her the Nutri drench. Today she has been sleepy the entire day. Then I noticed that she had like a loss of balance and began to have a slight head tremor. (About a week ago she kept escaping out into the streets/ by jumping and wiggling through the fence) My other hens are completely fine and acting normal. Please has anyone experienced something like this. Any information waould be highly appreciated.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Have an adult New Hampshire Red (about 4yrs old). For about a week now, noticed she had one eye partially closed and began circling. She continued to eat and drink. Eventually she kept her eyes open like normal but she seemed off. She had a slight head tilt and a slight droopy comb. Her cluck is also deeper. She isnt having trouble breathing. Everything else is normal looking. Began giving her 'Poultry nutri drench' for the past 2 days. However today she didnt really eat and barely was drinking water and wasnt able to give her the Nutri drench. Today she has been sleepy the entire day. Then I noticed that she had like a loss of balance and began to have a slight head tremor. (About a week ago she kept escaping out into the streets/ by jumping and wiggling through the fence) My other hens are completely fine and acting normal. Please has anyone experienced something like this. Any information waould be highly appreciated.

Welcome To BYC

I appreciate your patience. I have asked that your other 3 threads be merged.

Do you have photos of your hen and her poop?

What do you feed your hen, including treats?

You don't mention if she's laying eggs...

I would start her on vitamin therapy - give her 400IU Vitamin E and 1/4 tablet B-Complex daily along with a little egg to help with the uptake of E.

I understand you are giving Nutri-Drench, that's good, but it doesn't have the amount of E in it that I am suggesting.

Going in circles sounds neurological, but hard to know exactly what is going on.

 

[Cosmoschaos]

Welcome To BYC

I appreciate your patience. I have asked that your other 3 threads be merged.

Do you have photos of your hen and her poop?

What do you feed your hen, including treats?

You don't mention if she's laying eggs...

I would start her on vitamin therapy - give her 400IU Vitamin E and 1/4 tablet B-Complex daily along with a little egg to help with the uptake of E.

I understand you are giving Nutri-Drench, that's good, but it doesn't have the amount of E in it that I am suggesting.

Going in circles sounds neurological, but hard to know exactly what is going on.

Thank you for replying.
I will try to upload some photos asap.

Since this started (this past week) her poop was normal. Today (05/19) she hadnt really eaten much and when she did "poop" it was just a drop (like the size of a dime) it was watery and white.

As for food they normally get chicken feed, mealworms, corn and any occasionally table scraps of fruit.

She did lay one egg Thursday. Im not aware if she had layed any other eggs previously. Since then she hasnt layed any.

Please excuse if its dumb to ask but where or better yet any brand recommendations for the vitamins.

We had assumed it might be neurological since she had kept trying to escape and was escaping all last week. Maybe she suffered some injury.

Th ank you for replying. I appreciate it.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

You can find vitamins at Walmart, CVS, etc.

Is the hen broody?

Just because a hen is trying to leave an area, doesn't mean it's something neurological. Perhaps it's overcrowded, not enough space, she's not getting along with others...

 

[Cosmoschaos]

Thank you for replying.
I will try to upload some photos asap.

Since this started (this past week) her poop was normal. Today (05/19) she hadnt really eaten much and when she did "poop" it was just a drop (like the size of a dime) it was watery and white.

As for food they normally get chicken feed, mealworms, corn and any occasionally table scraps of fruit.

She did lay one egg Thursday. Im not aware if she had layed any other eggs previously. Since then she hasnt layed any.

Please excuse if its dumb to ask but where or better yet any brand recommendations for the vitamins.

We had assumed it might be neurological since she had kept trying to escape and was escaping all last week. Maybe she suffered some injury.

Th ank you for replying. I appreciate it.

You can find vitamins at Walmart, CVS, etc.

Is the hen broody?

Just because a hen is trying to leave an area, doesn't mean it's something neurological. Perhaps it's overcrowded, not enough space, she's not getting along with others...

No the hen isn't broody.
It is a large area and its only 3 hens. The times that she had escaped she was at the neighbors scratching away. She does get occasionally bullied and pecked at by the other 2. But since then the others have left her alone.

 

[Cosmoschaos]

No the hen isn't broody.
It is a large area and its only 3 hens. The times that she had escaped she was at the neighbors scratching away. She does get occasionally bullied and pecked at by the other 2. But since then the others have left her alone.

 

[Cosmoschaos]

The moment she had a bit of a head tremor. This was the first time she did it and it was brief. She soon got up but lost balance and fell over.

 

[Cosmoschaos]

The moment she had a bit of a head tremor. This was the first time she did it and it was brief. She soon got up but lost balance and fell over.

 

[Perris]

it could be avian encephalomyelitis. Have a look at this and see if it fits what you've seen (the focus is mainly on commercial chicks, but wild type and adult birds are covered if you read it all)
https://www.msdvetmanual.com/poultry/avian-encephalomyelitis/avian-encephalomyelitis

 

[Eggcessive]

Neurologic symptoms of wry neck can include the symptoms she is having. Seizures also can be common in chickens. I would continue to give the increased vitamin E and B complex as Wyorp Rock at least for a couple of weeks. Since wry neck can be a result of head injury, vitamin E or thiamine deficiency, or a disease that affects the brain (Mareks, Newcastles, avian influenza, serious respiratory disease, tumor,) it can take some time to see results and improvement.