Hen walking in circles

maryellen21

Songster
5 Years
Apr 6, 2014
665
73
166
Sussex county north New Jersey
I was out checking on the hens and one of my tetras is walking in circles. She walks in a circle puts her head down to her feet like she is looking at the ground then picks her head up and continues in a tight circle. The other day i noticed she couldn't figure out how to get out of her yard to the pen to our yard i had to show her how to walk to door. I thought it was odd but didnt think anything of it, yesterday again all the hens i let into the big yard and again she couldn't figure out how to get from her yard to the big yard .. Today she is walking in circles.. If i walk and call her she walks and runs fine to me but once she stops she starts the circling all over again... I looked up what it could be but am not really sure what it could be. Some internet stuff said NCD some internet said wry neck)which her neck isnt bent) some internet said mare jus some said maybe she hurt her head or got pecked really hard on her head.
 
My bf just came inside and said when he held her in his arms her neck twisted all weird... So its possible its wry neck. I had treated the hens and coop with sevin on 12/9 and 12/19 as one new hen had lice and on 12/9 i sprayed the coop with permethrin to kill the bugs. It says on the internet wry neck could be from toxins...
 
I wouldn't worry about the sevin or permethrin causing wry neck. I have used both, and many others use them often. Wry neck (torticolis) is a neurological symptom that can be due to vitamins deficiency, head or neck injury, or anything that may cause brain inflammation including serious diseases or Mareks disease. Walking in circles or walking backward are also symptoms of wry neck. I would start treatment with vitamin B1 thiamine, Vitamin E, and selenium. You can use Poultry Nutri-Drench or Poultry Cell vitamins, which contain all 3, or use other poultry vitamins in powder form to add to water. Selenium is found in many foods such as egg, meats, tuna, nuts, and others. Limit her noise and stimulation, and help her to eat and drink if she is having difficulty. Some chickens over come this quickly, some take longer, and some never recover. Here are some links to read:
http://oureggbasket.blogspot.com/2013/04/wry-neck-or-crook-neck-understanding-it.html
http://www.browneggblueegg.com/Article/Crookneck/Crookneck.html
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/97121/lets-talk-wry-neck-crook-neck
 
She was fine yesterday, acted weird like she couldn't figure out how to get out of the pen to the big yard. The rest of the hens are acting fine. They all eat purina layer crumbles. How would i know if it was a vitamin deficiency? Wouldn't al the hens have it ?
Does tractor supply sell the poultry nutrition drench?
 
Vitamin deficiency is more common in chicks, but it can occur with rancid fats in feed or feed that has been on the shelf a while. Here are some links to read about vitamin deficiency:
http://www.merckmanuals.com/vet/pou..._poultry/vitamin_deficiencies_in_poultry.html

541606-q_1.jpg

Dosage is 1 ml orally for each 3 pounds of weight, given daily.
 
Thank you!! I've been reading up on wry neck , i still dont understand how one got it .. Any insight? They all eat the same food, get veggies occasionally, scrambled eggs sometimes, fresh water .. I clean the coop every day
 
There are many causes of wry neck, many times it is from an injury to the head or a symptom of a disease such as Mareks or others, not just from vitamin deficiency. But vitamins are usually recommended for treatment.
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom