chicken seizures?

[Stormhealer]

Sorry to hear about your chicken. But your story has help me so to understand why the rest of my chicks attacked my now sick chicky..
I do wish you better luck with your other chickens.

 

[realsis]

This sounds like wry neck and there is hope. Three weeks ago my chicken was doing the exact same thing. She was walking back wards head between her legs and she was doing flips.at first she was so week I had to syringe feed her . then when she did start to eat she would fall asleep in her bowl I had to pull her neck up and keep waking her up to eat. It was pitiful
But now her head is up and she walks like a normal chicken and pecks and scratches and I thank God she is better! First let me say this takes patience. I did the treatment called the Alan Stanford treatment for wry neck. You can find the treatment and exact doses and schedules at his web site at browneggblueegg.com once you get to his site on the left hand side is a glossery click on crock neck. It will give you a exact dose and schedule of what to do. Basically the treatment is vitamin E capsules and selenium for absorbtion of the vitamin E and vitamin B capsules or B in water and polyvisol liquid children's vitamins with out iron.most stop here but Alan Stanford's treatment also calls for predinsone for brain swelling. when you go to his site his article will explain this. I'm here to say this treatment works! I'm so greatful for it! I thank God! My girl who could only walk backwards dragging her head between her legs is now better! Like a normal chicken again! I'm so greatgul for this treatment! If you have any questions at all please feel free to pm me and I'll help the best I can.if you have patience and follow the treatment it really works and you should see positive results! By the way my chicken was having small seizures also. Its part of wry neck. I wish you the best and I'm sure you should have success with this treatment. I know I did! I'm here to help in anyway I can. Don't give up! There is hope! Hope this helps! Best wishes!

 

[realsis]

I just read on and I'm so sorry for your loss!

 

[nzchook]

Sorry to hear about your chicken. I have lost one this year and about to loose another. She had mites and it has blinded her and tonight she has a fit. I have her inside trying to do the best I can but I think I am loosing a fighting battle. Its very sad when all you want to do is have healthy happy chooks.

 

[tracypagenhardt]

I just came across this feed as I currently have 2 11 week old chicks displaying these exact symptoms. One seems to be getting better while the other one just started having fits this morning. I can't find polyvisol anywhere in Canada does anyone know of an alternative treatment?
Also what causes the vitamin deficiency? I have my birds on premium grower they get veggie snacks every few days and I've had them all on electrolyte/vitamin water since my first chick started displaying symptoms 2 weeks ago. The affected chicks are from 2 different breeders so the only common denominator is me and I hate to think I'm causing the problem!

Any insight is much appreciated!

 

[treehuggerTroy]

Chickens can have epilepsy. Their seizures have distinct phases starting with increased alertness followed by dorsiflexion and rotation of the head and neck. Wings extended and downward they lose the ability to stand then begin to thrash and tumble. They may also go rigid and then become limp and unresponsive. They will not blink and look dead. Once responsive again there also may be a period of disorientation and even temporary blindness.
This can be followed by loss of appetite and the ability to stand or walk. My isa brown Sweet Pea has epilepsy which is complicated by the fact she is also permanently blind. Several times I thought I was going to lose her. She will go a whole month without standing or walking. She always gets better.
She will also stop eating for a while. Since she is blind I started crop feeding her to make sure she gets proper nutrition. Right now she is eating her corn and greens pretty good. However I can rarely get her to take a drink of water. I crop feed her with the same thing used to feed baby parrots supplemented with poly-sol vitamins and baby food. I like to vary her diet. She gets meat, veg and dessert just like baby.
Epilepsy can be genetic, arise from head trauma or toxic poisoning. This may be important for figuring out treatment. Also there can be triggers for seizures. Most of sweet Peas seizures occur between 9pm and 2am. Haven't figured out why. So complicated. Not sure if her blindness is related or not.
It does seem to help if I can get to her at the start of her seizure. I hold her tight and much of the time she does not go rigid then limp which is terrible to experience. Her heart goes a million miles an hour then nothing. So, you guessed it, since her seizures are at night we sleep close together. Sometimes I can tell she is going to have a bad night and I put her in bed with along with as stack of towels. She may have up to three in one night.
If you want the details from the horses mouth the man who did the initial research is prof. R.D. Crawford. He worked with fayoumi chickens in the 1970's. You find him quoted in many books on google. I have not been able to find his original paper or if he is still working. I have to tell you it has been a huge relief to finally know what is going on so I can start to look for a treatment.
Her seizures can look like wry neck but it most definitely is not. Her symptoms match perfectly in every way the symptoms reported by Crawford. If you think your chicken may have epilepsy I encourage you to look up the research. It is interesting and helpful. If I can be of any assistance please feel to contact me [email protected] just note that I am not a professional vet nor do I have any training in that area. What I have is a deep attachment to my Sweet Pea and a computer with Internet.

 

[treehuggerTroy]

I forgot to mention if you discover your chicken has epilepsy or having seizures I would recommend isolating them until you know what is going on. And keep them seperated until you know for sure your chicken will not seize again. My healthy chickens would attack Sweet Pea almost immediately if she got any where near them. There always seems to be one especially crabby chicken in the bunch, that would be Little Miss in my clan. She would stomp around Sweet Pea's cage trying to get at her. When I first discovered she had gone blind it was obvious she had been roughed up pretty good. Cute as they are chickens can be brutes.

 

[mommomsandy5]

This thread is so helpful. We have a hen, Gertie, who I have been trying to nurse back to health. It all started probably about two months ago. I opened the coop to let our two hens and one rooster out for the day and Gertie didn't want to come out. Finally she did, but she couldn't really walk. I got her out away from the other two, but she was so weak and wouldn't move. She was leaning on her one side. I brought her in the house and she wouldn't eat and wouldn't put any weight on the one foot. Eventually she started to eat and got stronger. I thought that the rooster had attacked her so I separated him from the other hen (Trudy) so he wouldn't hurt her too. And as Gertie started to get stronger, I thought like someone mentioned here, that the two girls could keep each other company. All was good for maybe a week. Then one morning I went out there and Trudy had attacked Gertie! So now I don't know who originally hurt her. But Gertie acted the same way again. Not walking or eating much and every once in awhile she'd lose her balance and fall over. She'd do this weird neck curling. I didn't know what was going on! If we hold her for a minute or two, she'll settle back down. But when she does do the neck thing, it seems like she doesn't walk around much. Like maybe she's getting a little weakish. I feed her pellets and some fruit every so often and yogurt. So do you think baby vitamins will maybe help for her?

 

[treehuggerTroy]

My Sweet Pea lost a lot of weight after her worst seizures. Her appetite comes and goes that's why I recommend crop feeding your chicken to make sure she gets proper nutrition, at least until her appetite comes back. Of course Sweet Pea is blind so it is even harder for her to get all she needs. At first crop feeding is a little hard and scary but soon becomes routine. I try to feed Sweet Pea 35ml four times a day, sometimes she only gets three. Even though I have probably fed her that way over a thousand times she still fights me every time. The crop feeding was a miracle. She quickly gained weight and was soon walking again.
If Gertie is having epileptic seizures she may stop walking at some point or walk very little and be wonky on her feet but with care she might come right back as strong as ever. Sweet Pea has had several periods of invalidism but so far she has gotten over every one.
If Gertie is not eating enough on her own definitely crop feed her. I do put baby vitamins in Sweet Peas food. Along with a Chinese herb I got from my vet that is suppose to help with her seizures. So far it seems to be working although it is hard to tell since her seizures seem to come in waves. It is called Dian Tang and she gets an 8th of a teaspoon over the course of the day. It is powdered so it is easy to mix with her food.
I hope this helps. Hugs and kisses to Gertie.

 

[mommomsandy5]

I forgot to mention when she was first attacked, they had pecked at her one eye and I thought she'd lose it, but it healed. But I'm not sure if she is blind or not. To get her to eat or drink, I have to sometimes splash the water or wiggle my finger in her food so she hears and then goes over and eats and drinks. I'm pretty new to chickens and never heard of crop feeding before! Her seizures seemed to really peak about a week ago. She was having one after another. Normally it was one here and there. And yes after she has a seizure, she is very weak and won't walk. It might take her some time, but does finally get back up on her feet again. Thank you for your help and encouragement treehuggerTroy!!