Chick falling over and violently scratching its head

[H5 Nugget]

Hello all. We just received 18 new fluffy butts. One of them was falling over and violently scratching at the side of her head (both sides). It was a violent display flopping around (this earned her the name Spaz). After a couple hours Spaz pulled through and is doing well. A few hours later, another one started to do the same thing. The only difference between the two is the second one was more lethargic. Since the first one pulled through, we thought the other one would do the same. Unfortunately, we lost the second over night. What has caused this and what can a person do to prevent/cure this? Thank you in advance.

 

[alinas2010]

Hello all. We just received 18 new fluffy butts. One of them was falling over and violently scratching at the side of her head (both sides). It was a violent display flopping around (this earned her the name Spaz). After a couple hours Spaz pulled through and is doing well. A few hours later, another one started to do the same thing. The only difference between the two is the second one was more lethargic. Since the first one pulled through, we thought the other one would do the same. Unfortunately, we lost the second over night. What has caused this and what can a person do to prevent/cure this? Thank you in advance.

Hello welcome to the site. Sorry to hear about your chickens. Where did you acquire them from?

Can you check them over really well for lice and mites? And if you have a video of the behavior, go ahead and post it to you tube then link it for us here.

Is there anything they would’ve gotten into that is poisonous or moldy? Maybe moldy feed or bedding?

 

[Eggcessive]

I would also check for mites on the skin or black specks. If it is not that it sounds neurological. How old are the chicks? Did they come from a hatchery? Your state vet could do a necropsy M-F if you refrigerate a body in a plastic bag, and take it in to them.

 

[H5 Nugget]

Hello welcome to the site. Sorry to hear about your chickens. Where did you acquire them from?

Can you check them over really well for lice and mites? And if you have a video of the behavior, go ahead and post it to you tube then link it for us here.

Is there anything they would’ve gotten into that is poisonous or moldy? Maybe moldy feed or bedding?

Here is the video I failed to post the first time.

We could not find lice or mites on the chicks. Also nothing out of the ordinary with the box they were shipped in either. The brooding pen has fresh everything. New food and new bedding. All the other chicks are doing just fine with no issues.

This is the first time we have ever seen this out of the 5 years we have been doing this. Two chicks, hours apart and only one lived. This also the first chick we ever lost.

The hatchery is a very well known and respected hatchery in the US. I will not bad mouth them and will not share the name of them here, but they have been notified of the issue.

 

[H5 Nugget]

I would also check for mites on the skin or black specks. If it is not that it sounds neurological. How old are the chicks? Did they come from a hatchery? Your state vet could do a necropsy M-F if you refrigerate a body in a plastic bag, and take it in to them.

3 days old at the time issue. We got them from a hatchery. Did not see any mites on them.

 

[alinas2010]

Wow that is odd behavior. I agree with @Eggcessive something neurological maybe. What about an ear infection? How the her ears look?

 

[H5 Nugget]

The ears looked normal. Just very red from scratching. She drew blood at one point.

 

[Eggcessive]

Sometimes there can be a poor hatch, but in the very hot weather many of us have been experiencing, shipping stress could well have been a reason they did not do well. I’m sorry for your loss.

 

[H5 Nugget]

The strange thing for me is the other one survived. We gave her clear Pedialite and few hours late she was good to go. The one that did not make it was running around with no issues. Then all of a sudden started spazzing out like in the video.

I am just very confused on what it could be and why/how it happened the ways that it did.