Chick shaking head and losing balance

[TheChickenLady1]

I have a chick who is 36 days old and for the past two weeks, she has been losing balance and shaking her head. By shaking her head I mean that she looks like she's shivering. I have tried changing her food to give her more vitamin E thinking that that may have been the culprit, but it's been about 3 days and I have seen no changes. She is being fed Eggland's Best 19% Protein Starter-Grower Crumbles Chick Feed and previously was eating Mana-Pro Medicated Chick Starter. Her poops are normal if that's of any consequence. Does anyone know what might be going on?

 

[ronott1]

How is she now?

What I do is move them to a separate cage and nurse them like you are with good nutrition.

She might have a brain injury or a virus like mareks

 

[TheChickenLady1]

How is she now?

What I do is move them to a separate cage and nurse them like you are with good nutrition.

She might have a brain injury or a virus like mareks

Thank you for replying! I was able to get a good look at her last night because unfortunately, she wasn't able to get into the coop and her mom left her outside. I quickly realized that she has a leg injury which I believe is spraddle leg. I wish I caught it sooner, but I was never able to get near as the other birds are very protective over her. I've created a splint of sorts and am attempting to train her to use her leg properly and she has made a bit of progress already. She is still shaking and I'm unsure of the cause, it could just be discomfort from the splint or her leg being so weak as she isn't used to putting much weight on it. She's staying in a separate cage for the time being but I plan to put her in with the older birds at night so she can be more comfortable.

 

[ronott1]

Thank you for replying! I was able to get a good look at her last night because unfortunately, she wasn't able to get into the coop and her mom left her outside. I quickly realized that she has a leg injury which I believe is spraddle leg. I wish I caught it sooner, but I was never able to get near as the other birds are very protective over her. I've created a splint of sorts and am attempting to train her to use her leg properly and she has made a bit of progress already. She is still shaking and I'm unsure of the cause, it could just be discomfort from the splint or her leg being so weak as she isn't used to putting much weight on it. She's staying in a separate cage for the time being but I plan to put her in with the older birds at night so she can be more comfortable.

It does sound like something hurt her. Chickens can have that happen to them. Working on the leg will help and making sure she is eating and drinking.

Chickens and birds in general can regrow brain tissue better than we can so she should recover completely if there is a brain injury. The shaking could be from pain since birds try to hide injuries

 

[TheChickenLady1]

It does sound like something hurt her. Chickens can have that happen to them. Working on the leg will help and making sure she is eating and drinking.

Chickens and birds in general can regrow brain tissue better than we can so she should recover completely if there is a brain injury. The shaking could be from pain since birds try to hide injuries

Yep, I'm trying to do a sort of physical therapy to get her used to moving her legs properly and adjust to the correct motions. It seems that she's used to putting all her weight backwards instead of forwards as well so she continues to fall back when she tries to stand and her feet sit too far in front of her. It does seem that legs are physically able to bend in the proper position though so I don't think any damage is irreversible, she just needs to relearn how to bend them on her own.

I have food in her cage but I come every 30 minutes or so to give her water because I'm nervous that she could drown since she isn't steady on her feet. I'm hopeful, especially since she's young, that she will be able to make a full recovery whether it's a brain issue or a physical one!

 

[ronott1]

Things are going well!