NodakTwoBravo
In the Brooder
- Nov 20, 2018
- 5
- 5
- 29
Hello all,
My parents have a backyard chicken coop with 8 chickens. 3 days ago, I noticed one speckled sussex not in the henhouse with the others. I picked her up and placed her on her stick with the other chickens in her normal spot, because the weather at night has been between 10 and 20 degrees F at night. The next night when I went to close their door(they roam the backyard during the day), I noticed the same sussex on the ground of the coop at night. She seemed disoriented, and was doing the head waggle thing. I again placed her in the coop on the stick. Last night, the same chicken was on the ground, and could not balance on any sticks. She pins her neck to her back, looking straight up, and waves her head from side to side, and loses her balance and falls backwards off the stick, in a back-flip motion. If she is on the ground, she sits down completely, no weight on the legs, all sitting, and pins her neck back and does the head waving. see video.
The bird in particular is an 8 month old speckled sussex that weighs 5 pounds. This is the only bird in the flock exhibiting this behavior. There is no bleeding or broken bones that i have seen. This just sprung up 3 days ago, normal behavior, until this. She will snap out of it occasionally to take a drink and eat some food. Also, when she is scratching with her friend, she does not go into this behavior. It seems to come on as soon as the birds get ready to bed down for the night. The feed is nutrina country feeds egg producer. Poops look normal. I have separated her from the flock with one of her friends for the time being. I hope to be able to remedy the chicken. The vet said she had never seen a chicken do this, and it might be wise to put it down. Has anyone seen this? Attached are pictures of the coop, and a video of the chicken exhibiting this behavior at the vets.
My parents have a backyard chicken coop with 8 chickens. 3 days ago, I noticed one speckled sussex not in the henhouse with the others. I picked her up and placed her on her stick with the other chickens in her normal spot, because the weather at night has been between 10 and 20 degrees F at night. The next night when I went to close their door(they roam the backyard during the day), I noticed the same sussex on the ground of the coop at night. She seemed disoriented, and was doing the head waggle thing. I again placed her in the coop on the stick. Last night, the same chicken was on the ground, and could not balance on any sticks. She pins her neck to her back, looking straight up, and waves her head from side to side, and loses her balance and falls backwards off the stick, in a back-flip motion. If she is on the ground, she sits down completely, no weight on the legs, all sitting, and pins her neck back and does the head waving. see video.
The bird in particular is an 8 month old speckled sussex that weighs 5 pounds. This is the only bird in the flock exhibiting this behavior. There is no bleeding or broken bones that i have seen. This just sprung up 3 days ago, normal behavior, until this. She will snap out of it occasionally to take a drink and eat some food. Also, when she is scratching with her friend, she does not go into this behavior. It seems to come on as soon as the birds get ready to bed down for the night. The feed is nutrina country feeds egg producer. Poops look normal. I have separated her from the flock with one of her friends for the time being. I hope to be able to remedy the chicken. The vet said she had never seen a chicken do this, and it might be wise to put it down. Has anyone seen this? Attached are pictures of the coop, and a video of the chicken exhibiting this behavior at the vets.
