Chicken with Vertigo - Dizzy

[JPmahar]

Hello.

I had a similar situation in my backyard last week. For no known reason our six month old Olive Egger, Whoopie, Could not stand up without falling to the left side. Our other three chickens were not affected.

All my research online turned up horrible pathologies. We went to bed the next night praying that nature would swiftly take her course. The next morning I found Whoopie in the middle of the backyard with her head turned 180°, sitting in the rain. I wrapped her in a towel and began to massage her neck. She had torticollis for at least 36 hours. She responded to the massage, and I found a definite right lateral bony mass, a subluxation in her upper neck.

I manipulated her neck by toggling it back and forth. She seemed to get better. I did more that night and the next morning. By the third day she was back with her sisters, chasing bugs and living the good life.

I'm a chiropractor by profession, go figure. But, I was disturbed that none of the chicken pathology sites suggested subluxation. Then again, most MDs are ignorant of this problem, as are most Vets. Just too simple for them, I guess. Also, there is no money to be made in medications.

I have some footage of my manipulation on my clinic Facebook site; KenmoreChiro. Feel free to check it out.

 

[aJohanna]

Hey,

I notice the date of your letter is a year ago....however, I too have a Bantam hen, "Lucy", with this 'vertigo' problem....she has had all the 'dizzys' described and then some, tipping over or spinning in place. After about a week I put her in a dog crate with food and water. Three days later, she was 'fine'. She lasted about a week before her symptoms reappeared...back into the box...same results. Her balanced days didn't last as long as before...she is back in her box as I type. She is a funny little hen, she 'shouts' at any of the normal size hens try to peck at her, startled they back off and leave her alone....my flock is approx 28 hens, 1 rooster and 1 aging Pea Cock plus her three sisters and my 15-16 year old bantam rooster in a separate area....at any rate the all leave her alone.

I will see if I can feel any thickening in her neck...obviously it is not a tumor problem. Any further advise you can give me will be most appreciated.

Johanna
[email protected]

 

[Havenwood Farm]

How is yours doing? Did she recover? I have a 6 week old chick who started doing this a few days ago and when I looked up what it could be the possibilities were seemingly endless, including Marek's, ear infection, vitamin B deficiency, calcium deficiency, bruised leg. I separated her and gave her extra vitamins and antibiotics. She's been doing better, but still seems off-balance when walking.

What kind of antibiotic?

 

[Marianne Monagle]

Very common. I have a similar thread out with a video of my chick's dizziness. Been treating with vitamins and have been thinking about starting a tincture of Saint John's wort, being that with my girl, I see her head visibly trembling.

Hi folks,

A lot of the symptoms described here sound like an inner ear infection. Loss of balance, head tilt ,repetitive head movement and eyes flicking in the same direction .

I had a BO hen, Bobbi, that came down with it this fall. I thought at first it was wry neck. She didn't respond to vitamins and got worse, to the point that her head was stuck between her feet with her neck corkscrewed around in a totally bizarre way.
I found a vet that is awesome ,got her on antibiotics and today she has made a full recovery.
Hope this helps, Lora

Do you know that your chicken had? I have this same issue in my chicken, and going into a vet tommarrow in am?? I am worried sick

 

[Marianne Monagle]

I know what it is. It is coccidiosis. Sulfadimethoxine treats it, You can buy it online. What coccidiosis is is a parasitic disease that digs into the chickens large intestines and the parasites attach themselves there. The large intestine absorbs nutrients in animals bodies. So this blocks nutrients also from being absorbed.

How does this parasite relate to balance issues, can you tell me a reference or how you came to that understanding, my chicken has this for about three days now and I thought she was getting better but today worse, going into vet in am, I am hoping inner ear infection is all it is, aotherwise she is acting ok except for balance at times, and her neck sideways and head turns up, clearly off balance if you pick her up and set her down, always goes to one side, head also turns primarily the same way too, I think inner ear???

 

[Marianne Monagle]

I have a chicken this morning who looks like she has a bad case of dizziness.

Imagine how when you spin yourself in circles for a minute and then try to walk a straight line, you tend to look in the direction you were spinning and veer off staggering when you try to walk.

That's exactly what she is doing, her head is actually moving to the left repeatedly and her eyes rolling that way as well.

Not sure how long she has been like that, just fed them this morning and found it.

Thanks in advance.

Yes, I too want to know what happened, did it resolve, was it an inner ear balance issue, did you need to treat it? If so how?

 

[Michieb]

My almost year old chicken was recently walking around confused, I thought she got hurt somehow and picked her up and brought her inside right away. After checking her I instantly thought she es eggbound so I gave her a warm rosin salt bath. After feeling around I realized I couldn’t feel anything hard nor see anything near her vent to indicate an egg was stuck. I finally took her to a vet . She had X-ray and did not have inner ear infection, she had fecal matter exam and a dozen other routine exams they do. Nothing showed the doctor any abnormalities in fact she walked in circles, had a small twitch of the head, and when being fed could not eat when she pecked ate her feed as if she couldn’t figure out where exactly it was. The vet said the only thing she thought it was is vertigo. So fat she’s being observed for 12-24 hours to see if there is progress. There’s definitely a neurological issue and that she may be on medication for a while. She also mentioned possibilities of ingesting metallic objects and that this would cause infection in the brain and swelling, which could be treated fairly well. After her X-rays she indicated everything looked clear though. The vet also mentioned parasites which would infect her nervous system and cause brain swelling too which would explain her current issues. I’m still waiting on the results for parasites. Needless to say she’s home now and on two antibiotics along with anti seizure meds.
And I have to crop feed her myself, basically syringe special food into her little mouth. I’m also giving her pedialyte So far she’s ok but not out of the woods yet. I give my flock great layer feed and only snacks occasionally. I also offer them oyster shell. When they were chicks I gave them corrid medication as a precaution in their water, and they have been vaccinated too. I’m praying she gets better. On my time will tell.

 

[youngyaya]

Seriously? No one has solved this issue? Or had any positive outcomes?

 

[MelissaMallard]

Hi folks,

A lot of the symptoms described here sound like an inner ear infection. Loss of balance, head tilt ,repetitive head movement and eyes flicking in the same direction .

I had a BO hen, Bobbi, that came down with it this fall. I thought at first it was wry neck. She didn't respond to vitamins and got worse, to the point that her head was stuck between her feet with her neck corkscrewed around in a totally bizarre way.
I found a vet that is awesome ,got her on antibiotics and today she has made a full recovery.
Hope this helps, Lora

What kind of a antibiotic did you use?