Chicken twitching head and walks sideways

[crazyducklady23]

Okay so this is really hard to describe but here it goes. I have a small bantam chicken that has been doing get for me ever since I got her about 7 months ago but this past week she has been showing some weird signs. On Monday she started nesting in the coop which she never does, Tuesday morning I checked on her and she was still in there but she started twitching her head sideways almost like a spasm with her neck. She literally could not stop I tried holding her head and she just kept pushing against me. On Tuesday when I got back home from work to check on her she was outside in the pen area but still doing the head thing and when I walked up to her and she would try running away she couldn't walk straight, she would walk sideways almost like she was dizzy. She hasn't been eating and drinking as much I think cause she can't keep her head from stop moving. The past couple night I have been putting her face into her separate water bowl that I put a little bit of nutri-drench in and she will drink it. Last night and this morning when I gave her fresh water she seemed very excited about it but when she went to drink on her own she just dunked her whole head into it. Her head twitching has settled slightly but I have no idea what is going on, any help would be great!

 

[Brahma Chicken5000]

You should probably isolate her from the rest of the flock to make sure she eats and drinks.

 

[Eggcessive]

She is showing some neurological symptoms similar to wry neck. Wry neck can include a twisted neck, spasms, walking backward or in circles. It can be a symptom of vitamin deficiency, head injury, and is seen sometimes in certain diseases, such as Mareks or others that affect the brain. It can last a few days, weeks, or longer. Some chickens may inherit a tendency for wry neck.

Keep giving her vitamins that include thiamine, vitamin E, and selenium. Your NutriDrench has them all, and selenium can be found in egg, tuna, and other foods. I would take her aside a few times a day, and offer her a wet feed of water, chicken feed, a little egg, and maybe a tsp of yogurt plus a lot of water to fet fluids into her. Good luck on her recovery.

 

[crazyducklady23]

She is showing some neurological symptoms similar to wry neck. Wry neck can include a twisted neck, spasms, walking backward or in circles. It can be a symptom of vitamin deficiency, head injury, and is seen sometimes in certain diseases, such as Mareks or others that affect the brain. It can last a few days, weeks, or longer. Some chickens may inherit a tendency for wry neck.

Keep giving her vitamins that include thiamine, vitamin E, and selenium. Your NutriDrench has them all, and selenium can be found in egg, tuna, and other foods. I would take her aside a few times a day, and offer her a wet feed of water, chicken feed, a little egg, and maybe a tsp of yogurt plus a lot of water to fet fluids into her. Good luck on her recovery.

Thank you so much for your reply I will try that!

 

[Star and eclipsa]

 

[MiaThomp67]

My chicken is experiencing similar symptoms. She is also missing lots of feathers. My friend said she may have mites or lice. I sprayed her yesterday and her coop mate. I was thinking there is something terribly wrong. Neurological makes wens to me. I will try the vitamin supplement and see if that helps

 

[Wyorp Rock]

My chicken is experiencing similar symptoms. She is also missing lots of feathers. My friend said she may have mites or lice. I sprayed her yesterday and her coop mate. I was thinking there is something terribly wrong. Neurological makes wens to me. I will try the vitamin supplement and see if that helps

Welcome To BYC

Can you post photos of your chicken?
How old is she?
What do you feed?
Where are you located in the world?

What did you use to spray for lice/mites?

IF she has Wry Neck, it's a neurological symptom - some common causes are disease like Marek's, trauma and sometimes vitamin deficiency.
Vitamin therapy is usually the standard to see if the symptom improves. Give the bird 400IU Vitamin E and 1/4 tablet B-Complex daily along with some egg to help with the uptake of E.