Ducking and walking backwards.

[rugbratmom]

More issues with my sweet little rescues. Cricket is a 30 week old mixed breed. I'm guessing silkie and polish. She is just over 2 pounds. I have only had her for 3 weeks. Previous owner says she was vaccinated for Mareks. She just got over a mite and lice infestation. (Treated with permethrin and later spinosad.) She seems to be having a soft molt. She has a crooked beak but not to the extent that she can't feed herself. And she sometimes does a weird thing where she ducks her head down and walks backwards. I am assuming this means she has nutrient deficiencies. I am feeding her Nutrena Feather Fixer (18%) and supplementing with Nutri-drench and mealworms. Is there something different I should be doing? If it is a nutrient issue how long should it take for the backwards walking to stop? Will it stop? If is is not a nutrient issue what else should I be watching for? How could I tell if it is being caused by a past head injury or an ear infection? What else could it be?

 

[sourland]

My gut instincts are the same as yours: Nutritional deficiency, head injury or ear infection. It can take a matter of weeks for a nutritional deficiency to resolve. Have you checked the ears for possible infection or mite infestation?

 

[rugbratmom]

Have you checked the ears for possible infection or mite infestation?

Thanks for the response..
Her little ears look normal to me and I have not seen any sign of mites since they were treated last month. I guess I'll just keep doing what I'm doing.

 

[Swbertrand1]

Since she's a Silkie/Polish by your estimation, it wouldn't hurt to start her on Vitamin-E/Selenium and some B-Complex. It sounds from the description like you're dealing with Wry Neck, and it is treatable, but can take time to see results. I think sourland is spot on that you're dealing with a vitamin deficiency, and here's why:

Silkies and Polish breeds are especially susceptible to problems resulting from a deficiency in Vitamins E and B. Those vitamins help with neurological development and function (i.e. balance, head orientation, walking, eating, etc). For some reason, these breeds sometimes need more of those vitamins to thrive.

Poultry Nutri-Drench is a great product, but it's hard for me to tell just how of which vitamin I'm getting in my girls when treating, instead opting for Vitamin-E geltabs (400IU) twice per day along with some Vitamin B-Complex, Fried Egg Yolk or Selenium tablets (200mcg tablet cut into 1/8ths and given 1/8 a tablet per day. The Egg Yolk will provide the needed Selenium, but the tablet is easier for us. Dose for B-Complex is 1/4 of a tablet crushed/pulverized to mix into the mash described next.

We also make a mash of Feed, Yogurt, , B-Complex, Fried Egg (or Selenium from tablet), and Vit-E mixed together to form a moist paste and feed this to the bird first thing in the morning. In the afternoon dosing, we remove the Selenium and B-Complex, but all other things remain the same.

If this were my bird, I'd start her on this treatment as soon as you can. Sometimes results will show up in as little as a few hours, but it can take as much as a few days to a few weeks to see improvement. Good luck with your girl!