Crazy chick disease or syndrome---or not.........

[luv2greys]

Ever since yesterday morning I have noticed that my 5 week old black jersey giant pullet has been disoriented, doing the "backward dance", shaking her head--alll the symptoms that have been discussed as Vitamin E deficiency and crazy chick disease. I have been treating her as others who have gone through the same thing has suggested, poly vi sol, and vitamin e droppered into her mouth. She has periods of lucidity where she will eat and drink, but a lot of the time she stands with her head down. She had recovered enough last evening where I put her back in the brooder with the rest, but then at bedtime she was doing it again and I removed her to her own tote with food and water and a towel.

She is still not much better this morning though she ate some mashed hard boiled egg. I called my holiistic dvm chiro accupuncturist that I use for my greyhounds as his office treats birds also--in fact they are the official vet for the World Bird Sanctuary in St. Louis. I described the symptoms to him and he chuckled when I called it crazy chick syndrome as he had never heard it described that way. He also said there are a lot of neurological things that can cause behavior like this in chickens and didn't think it was a specific E defiiciency though it could involve other vitamins lacking. He suggested that I go to Petco or such and get a good avian vitamin supplement and try that. He also said that if it was a vitamin deficiency it wouldn't resolve itself very quickly.

I know others on here have had other results with supplementing E and having quick turnarounds so I am only mentioning this as his recommendation and I will try it. If anyone else has experience or info with symptoms such as these and had good luck with their treatment I would welcome your input.

I really want to save this pullet.....Thanks for any help.

 

[Haunted55]

Neurological symptoms can be best treated with the B vitamins as well as E. Vitamin A can also be lacking so I would say that is why he recommended the multi for birds. I use Durvet Vitamins and Electrolytes from Tractor Supply. This is what I would do if I were faced with this. I would give the Durvet vitamins in their water the first day and the second day I would give 1/2 of a Super B Complex human vitamin tab, crushed and added to 1 gallon of water and then 1 E 400iu capsule squirted onto her feed.

The B vitamins are water soluable so it's pretty hard to overdose them, but the E and vitamin A are both fat soluable and need to be handled carefully as they can build up to toxic levels in the body. If you follow this, you'll be fine.

Now you don't say what you are feeding her and this could be causing these problems as well. I think you need to look at everything in this bird's enviroment. There are other things that can cause symptoms like this and I'd like to see them ruled out if possible. Can you post some pictures?