Why is my hen shaking her head

dawg53 said:

Get a q-tip and remove some of the cotton from the top of the q-tip in order for it to fit inside the ear/ear canal, do not remove all the cotton from the tip. Then snugly wrap your hen in a towel and lay her down on one side on a table, her head should be the only part of her body that is exposed. You'll need to tie her lower legs together (close to her feet.)...I use a shoestring, and tie it like tying your shoe, not too tight. Make sure you have good lighting to see what you're doing. Pull back the ear flap on the side of her head. Slowly and gently insert the q-tip into the ear canal. DO NOT go in deep. Very gently swab the ear canal, then slowly withdraw the q-tip. Flip her over and swab the other ear following the same precedures I mentioned, use the other end of the q-tip or a new one...doesnt matter.
Then take a look at the cotton on the q-tip: If you see what appears to be dirt or wax, like human ear wax or sort of red in color or black/red dots...it's mites/with feces.
If you see yellowish/white gunk, it's a bacterial infection. If it's yellow/green gunk, probably a fungal issue.
If it's ear mites; use an eyedropper with vegetable oil in it and put a few drops in the ears. The oil will smother the mites.
For a bacterial infection; use an eyedropperful of hydrogen peroxide and put a few drops in the ear. It will bubble up, then after about 30 seconds use a clean q-tip to slowly and gently swab the ear clean and dry. Then use neosporin ointment, gently inserting the tip of the tube into the entrance of the ear canal and gently and slowly squeezing the ointment into the ear... then you're done. Do not overfill the ear. Flip her over and do the same thing to the other ear.
If you see yellow/green or just yellow on the q-tip, it's possibly fungus; dampen the q-tip with warm water, slowly and gently swab the ear clean. Then apply lotrimin ointment or monistat 7 (miconazole) cream into the ear as best as you can.
These steps might need to be repeated several months or longer down the road.

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Free Feather said:

Thank you for this! I have an itty OEGB pullet I will need to do this for.

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dawg53 said:

Get a q-tip and remove some of the cotton from the top of the q-tip in order for it to fit inside the ear/ear canal, do not remove all the cotton from the tip. Then snugly wrap your hen in a towel and lay her down on one side on a table, her head should be the only part of her body that is exposed. You'll need to tie her lower legs together (close to her feet.)...I use a shoestring, and tie it like tying your shoe, not too tight. Make sure you have good lighting to see what you're doing. Pull back the ear flap on the side of her head. Slowly and gently insert the q-tip into the ear canal. DO NOT go in deep. Very gently swab the ear canal, then slowly withdraw the q-tip. Flip her over and swab the other ear following the same precedures I mentioned, use the other end of the q-tip or a new one...doesnt matter.
Then take a look at the cotton on the q-tip: If you see what appears to be dirt or wax, like human ear wax or sort of red in color or black/red dots...it's mites/with feces.
If you see yellowish/white gunk, it's a bacterial infection. If it's yellow/green gunk, probably a fungal issue.
If it's ear mites; use an eyedropper with vegetable oil in it and put a few drops in the ears. The oil will smother the mites.
For a bacterial infection; use an eyedropperful of hydrogen peroxide and put a few drops in the ear. It will bubble up, then after about 30 seconds use a clean q-tip to slowly and gently swab the ear clean and dry. Then use neosporin ointment, gently inserting the tip of the tube into the entrance of the ear canal and gently and slowly squeezing the ointment into the ear... then you're done. Do not overfill the ear. Flip her over and do the same thing to the other ear.
If you see yellow/green or just yellow on the q-tip, it's possibly fungus; dampen the q-tip with warm water, slowly and gently swab the ear clean. Then apply lotrimin ointment or monistat 7 (miconazole) cream into the ear as best as you can.
These steps might need to be repeated several months or longer down the road.

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Chickiestohens said:

Are the medications (Neosporin, etc) over the counter human meds?

Our 18 month Wyondotte hen developed "black" ears which I hope to more thoroughly check. She has been this way 2 days, has no change in eating, drinking, comb looks the same as before ( nice health rose pink). Poppy"s energy/ and behavior are the same other than twice briefly ruffled her feathers in indignation, (when I gently insisted then lifted her into the hutch at night and spent yesterday "bully-ing" another hen- but not today.
The weather has been cold (20-35 F) and damp. I try to keep hutch clean and dry but last week I was ill with Covid so cleaning was not as thorough. Bedding is straw (to be completely changed tomorrow)...

Her 8 coop mates are fine.
Any suggestions as to cause and solution?

Thanks.... littlestobigs

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