Sleepy Polish?

[missmychicks]

Our 25 week old Silver Polish is acting strangely- she has a good appetite, eating drinking, walking fine, but I've noticed her leaning forward, almost like she is falling asleep, then jerking "awake". She is doing this pretty frequently (both on her perches and on the ground). She is the only Polish in our flock of 5 EEs. I've put her in a run by herself, given her a scrambled egg and electrolytes in her water. Any ideas?

 

[CHlCKEN]

Chickens are nappers, you’ll see them drift off sometimes during the day and that’s normal. Is it really excessive? How often does she do it?

 

[missmychicks]

Seems excessive. Definitely a change from her baseline.

 

[Eggcessive]

Are her feathers blocking her eyesight at all? I would sometimes trim my two hens, so they could see better. Is she low in pecking order or is she easily pushed away from food and water? I would offer her a little extra food treat such as mushy chicken feed with a little water and egg. My 2 Polish hens could easily be chased into hiding, and were a little ditzy at times. That said, check her crop to see if it is emptying by early morning before she eats, and note any unusual poops. Has she started laying eggs yet?

 

[missmychicks]

Are her feathers blocking her eyesight at all? I would sometimes trim my two hens, so they could see better. Is she low in pecking order or is she easily pushed away from food and water? I would offer her a little extra food treat such as mushy chicken feed with a little water and egg. My 2 Polish hens could easily be chased into hiding, and were a little ditzy at times. That said, check her crop to see if it is emptying by early morning before she eats, and note any unusual poops. Has she started laying eggs yet?

We have trimmed her” bangs” since they grew to a point were they affected her vision. Def low on the pecking order, but no abuse and multiple feed/water stations. She is eating and drinking, no weird poops. Put her by herself today, gave her a scrambled egg and added electrolytes to the water. No eggs yet. And yes, she has always been ditzy! That’s why I’m having a hard time distinguishing if this is “ polish normal”.

 

[missmychicks]

Today she is worse, ate some egg but not drinking water. Crop seemed fine prior to egg, no signs of being egg bound. Her heck is so thin, it's almost like it's not strong enough to hold her head up.

 

[DonnaScott]

Today she is worse, ate some egg but not drinking water. Crop seemed fine prior to egg, no signs of being egg bound. Her heck is so thin, it's almost like it's not strong enough to hold her head up.

I'm having a very similar issue with my Polish Roo. How did you make out?

I thought maybe it was wry neck symptoms and just recently started giving him Vit E and B vitamin packs. He didn't look great this morning but I checked on him while it was still dark out.

 

[missmychicks]

She perked up after the interventions, we rehomed her and she is thriving. I wonder if she was just exhausted being the only smaller, "different" girlin our small flock. She wasn't picked on to bad, but I think she was worn out running to her hiding places. Good luck to yours!!

 

[Eggcessive]

How old is the rooster @DonnaScott ? Watch for any runny droppings, and make sure to encourage him to eat and drink with tempting foods temporarily. Scrambled egg, bits of tuna, and wet chicken feed are good. Poultry NutriDrench 1 ml for every 3 pounds daily is a good boost for a couple of days. When they are sleepy, more than normal we worry about coccidiosis or other illness.

 

[DonnaScott]

How old is the rooster @DonnaScott ? Watch for any runny droppings, and make sure to encourage him to eat and drink with tempting foods temporarily. Scrambled egg, bits of tuna, and wet chicken feed are good. Poultry NutriDrench 1 ml for every 3 pounds daily is a good boost for a couple of days. When they are sleepy, more than normal we worry about coccidiosis or other illness.

He's about 13 weeks now. The vitamins really seem to be helping. This was the first day where he didn't look lost. He even went in to eat some scraps which he has NEVER done.

So I'm hoping!