Do chickens have inner ears and can they get dizzy if spun around?

[kysilkies]

We have a chicken on a sling due to bad legs and every now and then she gets all wound up so we spin her to unwind her, does this make her dizzY?

 

[MTFarm]

I don't know, but I do know that birds used for upland dog training (pheasant, quail, pigeons etc) can be spun/swung around and then placed and it helps to get them to hold/stay as opposed to immediately running or flying off when placed.

 

[denim deb]

Don't know about chickens, but it sure would make me dizzy!

 

[Ohhhdear]

Yes, spinning them around makes them dizzy! My son was goofing around and playing with the birds. He was holding one snugly in his arms and then spun around and around and around, then carefully set her down. She staggered, her bill hit the ground a few times, then she sprawled flat until she recovered her balance.
It *was* funny to watch, but my son isn't allowed to pick up the chickens anymore.

 

[Ariel301]

Quote:
My husband did the same thing a few times with one of our roosters. Both of them got dizzy from it.

 

[silkiechicken]

They have ear structures similar to our own, with the ability to re-grow damaged ear hair cells, thus are used in hearing research!

Their ears would be just like ours, or vice versa rather, if we cut off the outside part of our ears (the pinna).

 

[denim deb]

Quote:
What kinds of research have they done w/them? I have a condition called Meniere's Disease. It affects my inner ears, and I'm subject to vertigo attacks. Wonder if they've done any research w/chickens into that?

 

[bjash]

Quote:
What kinds of research have they done w/them? I have a condition called Meniere's Disease. It affects my inner ears, and I'm subject to vertigo attacks. Wonder if they've done any research w/chickens into that?

Heh...can you imagine a chicken with vertigo?

 

[silkiechicken]

Quote:
What kinds of research have they done w/them? I have a condition called Meniere's Disease. It affects my inner ears, and I'm subject to vertigo attacks. Wonder if they've done any research w/chickens into that?

They may have. The only research I dabbled in briefly with chickens was in relation to hearing research, where we were trying to identify the factors involved in ear hair cell development. The idea was to figure out how they were able to re-grow ear hairs, so we could potentially apply it to people who have gone deaf due to exposure reasons or age, and grow their ear hair cells back. As for Meniere's Disease, you could always Pub-med it and see what kind of work is being done in the field. However, the model animal is rarely mentioned anywhere other than the methods section.