Chicken keeps jerking her neck?

[Spekai]

One of my chickens got attacked by an owl around a month ago. She seemed to have lost an eye but healed pretty quick, so we put her outside a couple weeks later. That night she didn’t go into the coop and got attacked by an owl again, this time though it was holding her down and plucking out the feathers on her back. We now keep her inside at night since she doesn’t seem to go into the coop and feed her by herself because she seems pretty weak. I have noticed that she doesn’t have very good balance and has some weird neck jerking that I think is from the attack. I don’t know how to explain it other than her jerking her neck to the side for a couple seconds before going back to normal. I have a video but I don’t know how to attach it. They seem to be like episodes, so they happen a lot at one time but then slow down until they start back up again. I have no idea what it could be, we don’t have any vets nearby that will take a look at her. I keep telling my dad to take her to the place we got her from to see if they know but he keeps saying he will just make her kill my chicken so I don’t know what to do. He thinks she might be having seizures. If anyone is willing to watch the video I’ll gladly send it to you! Please help and thank you!

 

[azygous]

Make an account on You Tube and post your video there. Then copy the link and post the link here. The video will automatically embed and we can then watch it.

It sounds like spinal cord damage your hen is experiencing. Some of these types of injuries can heal with the help of vitamin E 400iu plus a sliver (25mcg) selenium. Give her one E capsule directly into her beak two or three times a day for a few days, and if there's improvement, cut back to one cap a day for a few weeks.

If your hen lost the vision in her left eye, that deprives her of the ability to see danger coming from above or from a distance. She is vulnerable to predators because she can only see up close with her right eye. You cannot leave her out of the safety of the cover of the run or she will be killed.

 

[Spekai]

@azygous

Hello! Thank you for telling me how to post a video, here it is:

Im posting it in the reply just in case it might be something else. I will try to go get some vitamin E tomorrow! We always keep her in at night now and watch her when we let her outside with the rest of them. We also make sure the rest of chickens are in the coop before closing it just in case. Thank you for suggesting the Vitamin E! Hopefully she will get better, I am very worried for her.

 

[azygous]

Yeah, it looks like a spinal cord injury all right. I hope the E works. Let us know if there's any improvement. It might be a few weeks before you see any.

 

[glassdragonfly]

Poor girl! Such a pretty girl! Hope she recovers.