What does head shaking signify?

[2greenboyz]

Well, I hog-tied the patient and looked in her deep, cavernous ears and then shined a search light down her throat, and all were pink, healthy-looking and normal in every respect.

I dumped some sample ear canal oil for itchy ears down her left ear, the one she always is scratching with her foot. So now I'm watching to see if that improves the head shaking. Maybe all it is is a case of itchy ear.

Thanks again for all the help. Chicken ears are awesome! And such cute, little pink, pointy tongues!

You are so funny. That is great news - when you looked in the ear you didn't see any black flecks (indicative of mites)? Hopefully the head shaking will improve now. Happy to hear she got a clean bill of health.

 

[azygous]

Well, she may have nice pink, clean ears and throat, but she's still shaking her head and scratching it with her foot.

Nope, no sign of black peppery scamps, signifying mites or termites or whathaveyou.

She really does behave as if something in her ears are causing her great discomfort. I wish I could figure out what to do for her to make her feel better.

None of the others seem to have any problem like this. No sign of any sort of parasites in the coops, and never have.

 

[littlebluechick]

I seriously doubt it - I have a Yokohama that was beat up pretty bad on the head when she was young. It was neosporin every day for a week and I separated her in an open wire dog crate in the coop. She is over a year old and is totally fine now and doesn't shake her head or show any signs of head injury. Other hens though, adults, often shake their heads. I have a big pen and coop, so its probably not due to confinement, however, I have a few hens that are clearly bullies which I know make some of the hens nervous. Head shaking is a delimma that I am trying to figure out too. If it were bugs, you woud think the other hens would be picking at the head shakers head.

 

[hulsey2322]

I know this subject has been brought up a zillion times, but I've never seen a satisfactory answer as to why a chicken shakes their head.

I know there are many reasons and they're mostly transient in nature - a shake of the head to get rid of something such as an insect or moisture. But my SS pullet does it all the time, and it's quite extreme at times, accompanied by scratching the side of her head with her foot.

I've examined her head very closely on several occasions, but she appears completely normal and healthy. Clear eyes, nostrils, nothing seems to be wrong with her ears, no parasites. However, when she was just two weeks old, she was scalped by the rooster. The skin on the entire back of her head was surgically removed. I carefully tended to her wound for many weeks until she re-grew her skin and even feathers.

Could she be suffering residual brain injury? Can chickens get ear infections?

I can tell you my for starters that there's a reason your not satisfied with the other post .. I've raised game chickens for 20+ years now . For breeding purposes only .. My flock was recently infected with a mycoplasmal bacterial infection, also known as ( C.R.D ) chronic respiratory disease . I quickly began treatment on my chickens , with injectable L.A 200 and LS-50 in their water .. But this wasn't enough .. My symptoms at first was runny nose , bubbles in the corners of the eyes and gurgling sounds . I quickly got it under control but still have the issue on my yard because C.R.D is 100% incurable it can only be treated not cured .. My chickens do not have lice or mites , I dip my chickens and I give them ivomectrin injectable which kills all lice and mites plus any eggs that are on my fowl . But I said all that to say this , the head shaking your noticing is symptoms of C.R.D . Some chickens can have it for years and never show direct symptoms unless you know exactly what to look for .. Denegard 12.5 is the best thing I've found to control mycoplasmal infections . If you wanna know more message me your number I'll be glad to help you all I can .. God bless have a great day

 

[azygous]

Thanks for responding to my post, even though it's been four years since I started the thread. The hen I spoke about is now going on six years old, and she's in very good health and still laying, as are all my six and seven year olds. No sign of any respiratory disease in my flock at all.

If my memory hasn't totally gone south on me, I think I finally squirted some ear lubricant drops into her ear that I had gotten free at a recent health fair. That did the trick. She had dry ear, itchy ear and the drops solved the problem. She hasn't shaken her head in years.

 

[jcoz]

Not to whoop a dead horse, but ppl adding to old threads helps a lot. I'm gonna check my girl's ear tomorrow, she shakes her head regularly and none of the others do. Unless it's neurological, but I have a hard time believing that. Chicken ears, chicken butts... I'm probin so much I should be a reporter.

 

[Isaac 0]

I know this thread is old but a head shaking motion may indicate early wry neck.

 

[PertyGertie]

I'm dying here! Seems like we all are looking in places we never dreamed we'd be looking until we got chickens!

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Head shaking is the result of trouble breathing.

 

[amanda1]

Joined: 12/2012
Posts: 4,743

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Head shaking is the result of trouble breathing.

Now that is the first time I've herd that. My nine month old hen has been shaking her head for months! I've just recently realized, she also has trouble breathing. She also has never laid an egg. We've done worming, antibiotics, and now anti fungal, but with no results. I had her to a vet who is as dumbfounded as I am. I have spent hours researching and searching for answers. Her only symptoms are the head shaking and dry rales, and obvious difficulty breathing.

The coop is clean. No one else in the flock has symptoms. I sure wish I could help her, but cannot find the cause of the problem!