Peanut Butter is a 5 week old feed store Barnevelder pullet who shakes/trembles almost constantly.
Initially, she presented with a prolonged case of poopy butt. I made a post about it here. At that time (she was 2 weeks) the tremors were just beginning. Based on my own research and responses to that post, I decided to put her on Corrid for 5 days. The shaking increased in duration and intensity.
At 3 weeks I made this post on the Facebook group: Chicken Vet Corner’s Chicken Talk about her shaking. If you have access to that group, there are pics & vids included, and follow up on the comments. But to summarize, she is small & was shaking but otherwise behaving normally. She was shaking even when just hanging out in the brooder. General consensus from that group was that the medicated chick starter & Corrid together was depleting her of vitamins.
So, for the next week I moved PB to the outdoor brooder with her same age clutch. They were on flock raiser, had grit, got some free ranging time, and I put Rooster Booster in the water. The shaking did not improve and maybe grew worse, but in spite of that she was active and kept up with her peers.
Video of PB at 3.5 weeks old in the outdoor brooder:
At 4 weeks I brought PB back inside to an indoor brooder because I wanted to administer vitamins orally (.1 cc Poultry Cell) and just generally monitor her. She’s currently living with two 2-week old chicks. She does not shake nearly as badly. But I am not sure if it’s the vitamins or the lower stimulation environment that she’s in.
This video shows PB at 4 weeks. The shaking is noticable in her tail. It's not as bad when during this "field trip" with 3 younger chicks compared to when she's in the big brooder w/ 6 chicks larger chicks her same age.
Now, PB trembles only a little in her brooder. When I bring the chicks out for some play time, she shakes more. If I bring her out for snuggles, she shakes less. If I hold her firmly in 2 hands, she stops shaking entirely (but eventually starts up again).
When she shakes a lot (or shakes hard) she is like a steady motor just shaking away. It sometimes knocks her off balance. When it’s minor, it starts almost like a purring and the escalates into shivers, but at this point it’s not constant but instead intermittent (she shivers for a couple seconds, stops for a couple second, shivers, stops, etc…)
My plan for the next week is to stop the oral vitamins and return to only vitamins in the water just to see if there’s any change in her tremors. I’m beginning to feel that this is neurological, and perhaps not something I can treat. But I’m open to hearing your suggestions and/or experiences.
This video is from today, 6/11/23, at 5 weeks old. I would call this "moderate" shaking. Sometime it's worse and sometimes it's better.
Initially, she presented with a prolonged case of poopy butt. I made a post about it here. At that time (she was 2 weeks) the tremors were just beginning. Based on my own research and responses to that post, I decided to put her on Corrid for 5 days. The shaking increased in duration and intensity.
At 3 weeks I made this post on the Facebook group: Chicken Vet Corner’s Chicken Talk about her shaking. If you have access to that group, there are pics & vids included, and follow up on the comments. But to summarize, she is small & was shaking but otherwise behaving normally. She was shaking even when just hanging out in the brooder. General consensus from that group was that the medicated chick starter & Corrid together was depleting her of vitamins.
So, for the next week I moved PB to the outdoor brooder with her same age clutch. They were on flock raiser, had grit, got some free ranging time, and I put Rooster Booster in the water. The shaking did not improve and maybe grew worse, but in spite of that she was active and kept up with her peers.
Video of PB at 3.5 weeks old in the outdoor brooder:
At 4 weeks I brought PB back inside to an indoor brooder because I wanted to administer vitamins orally (.1 cc Poultry Cell) and just generally monitor her. She’s currently living with two 2-week old chicks. She does not shake nearly as badly. But I am not sure if it’s the vitamins or the lower stimulation environment that she’s in.
This video shows PB at 4 weeks. The shaking is noticable in her tail. It's not as bad when during this "field trip" with 3 younger chicks compared to when she's in the big brooder w/ 6 chicks larger chicks her same age.
Now, PB trembles only a little in her brooder. When I bring the chicks out for some play time, she shakes more. If I bring her out for snuggles, she shakes less. If I hold her firmly in 2 hands, she stops shaking entirely (but eventually starts up again).
When she shakes a lot (or shakes hard) she is like a steady motor just shaking away. It sometimes knocks her off balance. When it’s minor, it starts almost like a purring and the escalates into shivers, but at this point it’s not constant but instead intermittent (she shivers for a couple seconds, stops for a couple second, shivers, stops, etc…)
My plan for the next week is to stop the oral vitamins and return to only vitamins in the water just to see if there’s any change in her tremors. I’m beginning to feel that this is neurological, and perhaps not something I can treat. But I’m open to hearing your suggestions and/or experiences.
This video is from today, 6/11/23, at 5 weeks old. I would call this "moderate" shaking. Sometime it's worse and sometimes it's better.
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