Chicken making weird movements

[Riverbend Farms]

Could it be a muscle twitch?

 

[nuthatched]

Hi there, what is her diet? it's likely lack of being able to see but silkies are prone to wry neck, a vitamin deficiency

 

[Riverbend Farms]

Layer crumble

 

[nuthatched]

Layer crumble

How old is she? Is she laying?

Silkies jumping looks like violent neck movement sometimes.

 

[Riverbend Farms]

She is 8 months or so (we don’t know, that’s what the breeder told us) She is laying

 

[azygous]

Before you make up your mind that your hen doesn't have a crop issue, please read this. https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

Her movement is classic for a crop disorder. There are more than just one kind. In all the years dealing with crop issues, I have encountered a bad smell only once. A lack of sour smell doesn't rule out a crop issue.

To verify that she has a crop issue, you must remove her food and water after she goes to sleep so you can check her crop in the morning before she eats anything or drinks. Are you comfortable with where the crop is located? Feel her chest wall just below her neck, a little to her right side. It will feel full now. Note whether it feels soft and spongy or hard and lumpy.

Come morning, feel this same spot again. It should be flat and empty and you shouldn't be able to feel anything in the crop. If there is something, note whether it's soft and spongy or hard and lumpy. Then let her eat and drink, but note whether she goes heavy on the water and how much food she eats, if it's her regular appetite.

Does she have access to grit? Has she had any fruit or vegetable that may have had mold on it? Is there any chance of mold in her bedding where she scratches around?

 

[ChickenHeartedHen]

Isn’t wryneck, or stargazing more… violent? I’d think of it as more of a chicken-almost-falling-over type of thing. Although silkies are known for having vitamin deficiencies.

 

[Riverbend Farms]

It is hard, but the other day it was soft and squishy, I felt it the other day in the morning when she had had no food or water and it was flat. She has grit.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Before you make up your mind that your hen doesn't have a crop issue, please read this. https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

Her movement is classic for a crop disorder. There are more than just one kind. In all the years dealing with crop issues, I have encountered a bad smell only once. A lack of sour smell doesn't rule out a crop issue.

To verify that she has a crop issue, you must remove her food and water after she goes to sleep so you can check her crop in the morning before she eats anything or drinks. Are you comfortable with where the crop is located? Feel her chest wall just below her neck, a little to her right side. It will feel full now. Note whether it feels soft and spongy or hard and lumpy.

Come morning, feel this same spot again. It should be flat and empty and you shouldn't be able to feel anything in the crop. If there is something, note whether it's soft and spongy or hard and lumpy. Then let her eat and drink, but note whether she goes heavy on the water and how much food she eats, if it's her regular appetite.

Does she have access to grit? Has she had any fruit or vegetable that may have had mold on it? Is there any chance of mold in her bedding where she scratches around?

Great post as always!

I agree

 

[BirdsBeesTrees]

Help! My silkie hen keeps making weird movements with her Head jerking back. She is also new and it got pretty loud in the house for like 5 minutes while this was happening. (She comes inside at Night because quarantin)

It's probably a vitamin deficiency. That's why I got rid of all my Silkies.
They constantly need vitamins in their water.