Anyone know what this could be?

[rainierlass]

One year old BLRW Splash hen.......going through a horrible molt but feathers growing in and look good - she does this action with her head that I have no idea what it could be - - she was treated with Ivermectin topically the end of December....

..my roo was showing signs of what might be Cocci eyes closed - lethargic - runny poo - no blood in feces tho - so they have been treated with Sulfamethadoxine for the last 6 days.

She had been doing this long before that tho......about the time of molt.....no lice or mites......crop seems a bit distended but not balloon-like and she seems to eat fine - she also had signs of runny feces ........

In the beginning of the video you will see what i am questioning....she does this numerous times during the day - very very often

Anyone seen this before and have any suggestions?

 

[Miss Lydia]

Sorry wish I could help but this will bump you to the top and hopefully someone can.. I do know from experience that molts are extremely hard on chickens, and would probably be a good idea to add some extra vitamins into the mix of feed ect. Poultry drench, poly-vi-so w/o iron, extra protein like scrambled eggs, yogurt.

 

[rainierlass]

I have been upping their protein by feeding 1/3 flock raiser to 2/3 layer crumbles.........they get a can of cat food about 3 times a week.....yogurt mixed with oatmeal and eggs about 3 times a week as well.......I have 3 that are molting and only have one of my 6 laying at the moment.......

as a side note - was at the feedstore talking about the protein levels and looking for game bird raiser which they were out of.......I mentioned I was feeding red meat to up the levels and one of the clerks said "Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh you can't give chickens red meat - their digestive systems can't handle it!" LOL! So what the heck are worms? I left shaking my head - and on to the next feedstore!

 

[TreeHugger]

I had a wyandotte hen that did the same exact thing! I bought a trio of wyandotte hens as chicks from the local feed store a few years back and one of the hens did the same exact neck motion. I wormed her and thought it might have been gape worm but it wasn't. The only conclusion I could come to was that it was a neck injury of some sort. I sold the trio last fall to cut down on the number of birds I had, but other then the neck motion she didn't seem to have any other issues. The other 2 hens didn't have that issue and they were all on the same feed etc. Hopefully someone knows what's causing it.

 

[rainierlass]

thanks for the reply TreeHugger.....interesting that you had one doing the same thing and it just happened to be a Wyandotte as well.....she doesn't seem particularly sick - and as I said this has been going on since about the time she started molting.....is a curious thing for sure!

 

[AllCoop'dUp]

My only observation is that her crop looks huge.

 

[blueberrychickens]

I've seen my girls do this movement when they have eaten too much, but only when they've eaten too much (visualize 8 chickens & a pot of zitis!!) It almost like they are trying to adjust what is in their crops.
Thats my answer, but I am by far not an expert. Hope your girl is ok, she is beautiful!

 

[nicelittlehens]

Maybe the hiccups, if my hens run out of feed for awhile and they are really hungry; I have seen them do this same exact thing as yours right after they gouge themselves with new feed.