chicken acting drunk, shaking

[bookaddict]

9 week old RI Red (might be my rooster - still can't tell) is stumbling around and can't walk straight. Seems to have gotten worse in the last hour and can't even sit without falling over. Hasn't pooped since we've brought it in the house, so I don't know what that look like. All 13 of its coopmates are acting fine. They are eating chick grower, they have grit, my husband gives them a handful of cracked corn most days as a treat, and they get scraps ever so often. Over the weekend some of them got into the (non-fiberglass) insulation. Could this be our problem??? What do I do??? Thought I'd start boiling an egg and cooking some oatmeal for the special diet I saw on here (although I don't have any yogurt).

Thanks in advance!

 

[bookaddict]

Chicken has now pooped. It was HUGE - mostly green with some white. Did you catch the HUGE part?!! I'm not kidding on that! It is eating a bit of the oatmeal mixture and has taken a small drink. It is alert, but can't get up on it's feet now. Please help!

 

[crittersitter]

Bump

 

[bookaddict]

Bump??? Sorry, I don't understand.

 

[crittersitter]

many new messages come in and your post gets pushed down the list so it is less likely for people to see it. I noticed nobody responded so I bumped your thread back to the top. Hopefully someone will chime in and help you out. I am sorry i don't have any but hoping someone does

 

[Shared Acres]

Did you worm it by chance? I've heard that too much Ivermectin can make a chicken act drunk.

Maybe heat exhaustion? Try some sugar water or Pedialyte.

 

[bookaddict]

Thanks for the bump!

Haven't wormed it and it's actually been cold here 30's -40's with horrible wind. Thank you for the input though.

 

[BayMinetteChickenMom]

I had a very similar situation about 3 months age. 1 chicken staggering around, unable to keep it's balance. Others were fine. I took the sick chicken into the house for about a week- it gradually recovered, although she is still a little wobbly at times. I notice that she also holds one wing a little lower than the other. She still lays well. I never could figure out what happened, but I figured as long as she was eating and didn't seem to be in any pain, I would just wait and see. I'm glad I did.

 

[BayMinetteChickenMom]

Sorry, I should have previewed my reply. I meant to say 3 months ago. The chicken was about 8 months old.

 

[Libbo57]

Last summer I had a bantam rooster that acted exactly like that. It lasted for several weeks, seeming to get progressively worse. We watched closely to make sure the others chickens weren't "catching it" and that he wasn't getted pecked by the others. Eventually, the symptoms wore off and he was completely normal again! We gave him and some other roosters away not long afterward, so I don't know if he stayed healthy after that.