Chicken not moving, won’t walk and head is slowly going in circles. Help!

[Megwylie25]

Please I need some help. I recently had two of my frizzle Roos that were around 7 months old and one just all of a sudden died and the other had been limping around and both had green poop. Well the other recently just past and now one of my hens isn’t doing well. I found her on the floor of the coop not wanting to move. This morning she didn’t want to move still and she is keeping her eyes shut and her head keeps moving around in circles slowly. What could this be and what can I try to help my her or my other babies.

 

[nuthatched]

I'm sorry to hear that.
Ages? Diet? It sounds like deficiency.

 

[Megwylie25]

The young Roos were around 7 months old and this hen that is sick now she is around a year old. If it is a deficiency what do you recommend I use? I feed tractor supply layer pellets and some scratch grain every morning. They get table scraps every now and then, but not recently.

 

[nuthatched]

The young Roos were around 7 months old and this hen that is sick now she is around a year old. If it is a deficiency what do you recommend I use? I feed tractor supply layer pellets and some scratch grain every morning. They get table scraps every now and then, but not recently.

Any new birds? Has she laid recently? Green poops is often a sign of not eating or infection. Roos and nonlaying birds should not eat layer if it can be helped.
Go to the grocery store and get some 400 i.u vitamin E capsule and b complex tablets. Give one E ans a third of a B complex tablet every day for a few weeks.

 

[coach723]

Since you've lost 3 in a short period I would strongly recommend you have one necropsied. If you lose this hen/pullet, then that would be the best way to know exactly what's going on. There are virus's that can affect the flock, and symptoms may or may not be the same bird to bird. It's also possible that it's bacterial or they got into a toxin somehow. Spoiled feed, leaking machinery, something rotting, and sometimes toxic plants if they range, are all possibilities. Marek's disease also has to be considered. I will link to necropsy resources by state, find your nearest and call for particulars. In many states it's quite reasonable, or even free. The call won't cost you anything, to find out. If you are close enough you can drop them off rather than ship, many times. If you lose her refrigerate the body, don't freeze it, and get it there within the time frame they specify. Whichever is closest to you can tell you specifics. It's a good idea with multiple losses to find out for sure what it is, in case it may affect the rest of your flock. Or get peace of mind that it won't.
https://www.metzerfarms.com/poultry-labs.html

https://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_health/nahln/downloads/all_nahln_lab_list.pdf

Can you post a video of what your hen is doing? You have to upload to another host, like youtube, and put the link here, then it can be seen. It sounds like maybe wryneck symptoms, or something else neurological. That can be vitamin deficiency, head injury, or disease based. Usual treatment is Vitamin E with a bit of tuna, sunflower seeds or cooked egg for selenium to help with the uptake of the E. I would also give her a B complex or Super B complex tablet or capsule daily, the B's can also cause odd neurological symptoms. All of those can be human supplements from any pharmacy or big box store, easy to find that way, and vitamins are vitamins. The B's are very safe, extra is excreted, so no worries on too much. E if given for too long can become toxic, but you are fine for several weeks, usual dose of that is 400iu, you can poke the capsule and squeeze the contents into her beak.
Link below on wry neck.
https://www.raising-happy-chickens.com/wry-neck.html

 

[Megwylie25]

Any new birds? Has she laid recently? Green poops is often a sign of not eating or infection. Roos and nonlaying birds should not eat layer if it can be helped.
Go to the grocery store and get some 400 i.u vitamin E capsule and b complex tablets. Give one E ans a third of a B complex tablet every day for a few weeks.

Okay, but my roosters and hens are together what would be the best way to feed all of them? Or can I mix in a different food with the layer food so the roosters can get what they need? What about putting vitamins in their water for the rest of the flock?

 

[nuthatched]

Okay, but my roosters and hens are together what would be the best way to feed all of them? Or can I mix in a different food with the layer food so the roosters can get what they need? What about putting vitamins in their water for the rest of the flock?

Feed flock feed, chick feed or meat bird, whatever you can find and and just throw out oyster shell for the hens.
You can get vitamins for everyone else but only give it to them for a week.

 

[Megwylie25]

Feed flock feed, chick feed or meat bird, whatever you can find and and just throw out oyster shell for the hens.
You can get vitamins for everyone else but only give it to them for a week.

Okay great I will do that. Thank you so much!

 

[coach723]

When you have roo's in the mix it's better to feed an all flock type feed that doesn't have the calcium, and offer oyster shell in a separate feeder all the time for the birds that need it (the ones laying). The birds that need it will take what they need, the others will leave it alone. Long term too much calcium can lead to kidney problems and gout. If you can't find an all flock or flock raiser (sometimes they are out of stock) you can use a starter/grower feed in the 18-20% protein range as well, and it will be fine, again make sure the oyster shell is available. I use all of those, depending on what is in stock, I haven't used layer in years and years. If you have broody hens at some point that raise chicks, the chicks can't have the layer feed either, the calcium can damage the organs of growing chicks. So feeding an all flock, flock raiser, or starter/grower to everybody, greatly simplifies things.
They do make poultry vitamins you can mix in the water for the others. As said before, only use those short term. For birds with symptoms you need to use the higher dose supplements and give them directly to the bird orally, if it is a deficiency it can take much higher doses to get it reversed.

 

[Megwylie25]

Okay so now she has her eyes closed, throwing head back and gasping air like she is having trouble breathing