Chick acts "drunk" can't figure out what's wrong??

[jbs]

I have a 3 mos old chick with similar symptoms. Where can I get Vitamin E and selenium?

I was able to buy Poly-Vi-Sol, Vitamin E and Selenium at my grocery store or drug store. I had to hunt the hardest for Selenium, but they had it. Dosing is not so straightforward as I thought it'd be, as the 400 IU capsule of Vitamin E is way too much, and there's not much to it, maybe 2-3 drops total, so I can't really divide it easily. I just put a bit on her food and hope that it helps, same for Selenium. I crushed up maybe 1/4 of a tablet of Selenium and put it in a small amount of mash, mixing it in with hb egg so she'd eat it. My chick is eating like crazy and much more alert, I just hope the weird neurological or muscular issues aren't permanent. At least it's easier to give her vitamins and whatnot now that she's eating. Good luck Chickenmoma.

 

[Velvet Sparrow]

What you guys are talking about sounds a lot like a condition called Limberneck, Crookneck, Stargazing or Twirling, depending on who you talk to. It can be caused by moldy feed or an injury to the head, which causes swelling in the brain. This interferes with the bird's ability to balance. This condition is marked by the 'drunken stagger' (kinda like people being dizzy), the bird suddenly starting to walk backwards but not forwards, falling over, dragging it's head on the ground, the bird twisting it's head backwards and looking up, etc. Often they can't eat or drink because they can't target well enough to peck. Silkies, Polish and other crested breeds are especially vulnerable since they have that hole in their skull through which their brains protrude, and when another chicken pecks them on the head their brain swells. If it is due to moldy feed of course, you have to toss the old feed and get new.

I've got more on it here on my chicken site, including a link on how to dose these birds with the Vitamin E/Selenium combination: http://jackshenhouse.com/VSChickHealth.htm

Scroll down to 'Crested Breeds' and click the link to Dr. Stanford's page--make sure you read both the article there called 'Crookneck Treatment' and 'Silkie Skull' to really understand it. I've used the Selenium/Vitamin E treatment (I had no access to Prednisone, a prescription drug, so I did without it) on adults and chicks alike that I thought were goners, and they completely recovered.

You have to be sure they are getting enough to eat & drink until they recover, if they are so bad that they cannot eat on their own, and I'd isolate them from other chickens so they don't get more pecks to the head & aggravate the problem.

To dose the bird I just crush the amount of Selenium I need to a fine powder. Then I take a vitamin E capsule and use a pin to poke a hole in one end, squeezing out the oil onto a small dish. I use a wooden matchstick end to mix the selenium powder into the oil (it will be gritty), then use the matchstick to feed the mixture to the bird--I open their beak and wipe it on their tongue, allowing them to swallow on their own.

 

[jbs]

My chick looks almost normal today. I'm totally blown away by this, was really thinking that she might not recover. She had been eating and putting on weight, but as of yesterday still unable to stand and stumbling around so much that I was afraid she'd hurt herself. I gave her a big vitamin E dose along with Selenium yesterday, and removed her companion chick to be sure that she ate all the vitamin-laced food herself. This morning she was walking around her brooder - still unsteady on her feet, but walking almost normally. And standing, not slumped over. I put some mash down for her and she walked up and started eating it. I can't believe it.

She had been getting better very slowly, so maybe it's a coincidence that she made this big breakthrough right after getting the vit E and selenium, but I think that's what did it. I was thrown off by other descriptions of vit E deficiency, as my chick didn't have any of the neck symptoms, but loss of muscle control and stumbling around drunkenly can definitely be vit E. If your chick is showing any of these signs it's definitely worth a try. Good luck everyone.

 

[Megan Amber]

Good to hear your chicken looks better! And thanks so much Velvet Sparrow!!! That would explain a lot! Mine was pretty low in the pecking order and could have received multiple pecks to the head!!!

 

[murfmagic]

I am relieved that there is an answer to this condition, thank you Velvet Sparrow. My bird is looking pretty good today, she is walking a little more and standing up better than she has been. She's still a little wobbly and she was holding her head to one side, but she seams on the mend. I think she must have injured her head when she was either coming down off a perch or maybe the rooster was just to hard on her (is that possible) because my feed is not moldy. Does anyone know if I can feed a mixture of Vitamin E and Selenium mix that you feed to horses to the chickens but in a lower dose. JBS...I'm happy that your chick is on the mend. After all the not knowing it is nice to see them come around. I can't believe how attached I've come to my chickens.

 

[jbs]

Thanks Megan and Murfmagic. My chick isn't out of the woods yet, but her condition today is amazing compared to how bad she's been. I've already dealt with 7 chick deaths (6 died from shipping issues, one was a bad cross beak that we decided to put down), and I've been absolutely dreading the thought of putting this chick down, but am hopeful that she'll make a full recovery. She still falls over a lot, but can walk a straight line and seems to be getting to where she needs to go. She grooms and flaps her wings and is acting much more like a normal chick.

Murfmagic, I have no idea about the horse vitamins, but my guess is that you'd want to shoot for a very small dose of it. Is there info on the package about how many IUs of Vitamin E is in the mix? Merck Veterinary Manual recommends 300 IU of Vitamin E for a full grown chicken, so I tried to give my chick something along the lines of 50 IU. Merck also recommends "up to 0.3 ppm" of selenium, but I had no idea what that meant, so I just sprinkled some onto my chick's mash and hoped for the best. My selenium pills contain 143% RDA of selenium for humans, so I gave a smallish amount, 1/5th or 1/4th of the pill.

The selenium info in Merck is very interesting. It states that selenium alone can prevent muscular dystrophy in chicks that are lacking in Vitamin E. It seems like it's at least as important as the Vitamin E, maybe more so.

 

[murfmagic]

jbs...today I decided to put one of the chickens she came with in the stall with her for company and she started pecking at her, so...I think she is feeling better. She is walking much better, no toppling over, just a slight off balance if she goes to fast. I'm going to continue to isolate her as I am afraid she might have a relapse if I put her back with the flock. My main worry is the rooster, I don't need her getting any more knocks to the head. Any suggestions as to when I do put her back, what to do.

 

[murfmagic]

My chicken died a few days ago. She looked like she was getting better and then took a turn for the worse with really starting to fall over again. I had decided to put her down this weekend, but she died some time in the morning. It makes me sad to think she was by herself when it happened, but at least she just went to sleep.
Thanks everyone for all your suggestions.

 

[jbs]

Sorry about your chicken murfmagic. It sounds like she had some sort of injury or illness that she just couldn't recover from. You did all that you could.

 

[Megan Amber]

So sorry to hear that. You did all you could!