Rooster shaking his head. whats wrong?

[rudehd]

My rooster is shaking his head back and forth. We have had a harsh winter and I noticed that his comb has what appears to be frost bites on it. I have 26 chickens and he is the only one that is doing this. What can I do to help him?

 

[BeachBumBiddies]

Hi! Did you ever find an answer to this question? Or did you just dose you flock like it was mites? I have a Roo doing the exact same thing. Thanks for posting the vid, it was very helpful. Any info would be greatly appreciated...

 

[rudehd]

I have not found out what makes him do that. I though maybe it was frostbite on his comb. We had a harsh winter here in Ohio. He still does it, but not as often. None of my other 25 chickens do it. He is the only one. I have not treated him with anything.

 

[kim10261]

My rooster does the same thing I have 6 chickens and he is the only one who does this not as often as yours in the video,did you treat him is he still shaking his head? he appears to be healthy good appetite drinks water runs around with the other chickens does everything a rooster does...any help will be nice thanks

 

[araeihrig]

Following. My roosters both do this, but none of the hens do.

 

[cindyt]

Thanks for posting the video. This is exactly what my rooster does. I have always had the impression that it was just a show off behavior as none of my other chickens do it. He has been doing it for years now, and is happy and healthy.

 

[Michael Apple]

My rooster is shaking his head back and forth. We have had a harsh winter and I noticed that his comb has what appears to be frost bites on it. I have 26 chickens and he is the only one that is doing this. What can I do to help him?

First thing you should do is look in the ears to see they are clean. Look through their feathers from head to tail to make sure no mites or lice are living upon them.
Second is consider capillary worms. There are several types of capillary worms that infect chickens, two of which bury themselves in the mucosa of the crop and esophagus. Birds will shake their heads in a serpentine manner like that video when they are in their throat. They will also do that if a blade of grass or some other object is lodged in the throat. Listen to breathing, look down the throat with a bright light to see if it looks irritated or inflamed, and if all looks normal, you should deworm with a Benzamidazole anthelmintic.

 

[Tumbleweed Farm]

My Light Sussex Rooster does this head shaking constantly--every 2 minutes or so. He eats, drinks, mates and is of good size. I am at a loss as to what to do. Treat for mites, lice, worms--can some more folks chime in?

 

[ErniesFlock]

Well I have used ivermec pour on and I have 3 roosters week after STILL shaking their head. The hens are not affected the same way, I have not once seen a hen shake her head. So.... any other suggestions?

 

[Chullicken]

Just found this article..NFM apparently are dastardly things. My rooster is almost two, he's been doing the head shake for about a year and half of that. I've dusted and sprayed him though not thoroughly as he is a Landrace. He's the most flighty, wild mannered rooster I've ever owned. I do sneak in a spray or two on his butt, neck/head comb area and on his back. The symptoms lesson greatly but never really seem to go away. I've cleaned out the coop several times and doused it like an atom bomb. Truly frustrating. The rest of my flock don't seem to have any issues.