Ear infection in chick?

[manychitlens]

Hi everyone, I have a chick that is almost 4 weeks old. For the last couple of days, she's been shaking her head a bit more than what I would consider normal. It's not like she's shaking it slowly, it's quick movements like she has something that she's trying to get off of her face, if that makes sense. Today she has also starTed making the 'yawning' motion a lot, she does it over and over. Then it will stop for a while, and then she'll start up again. Other than those two things she is acting completely normal, eating, drinking, walking around, not lethargic, etc. My other chicks are not doing any of these things, either. Could this be an ear infection? Something stuck in her crop, maybe? Is there something I should be checking? These are my first chicks and although I've read and read, I can't put my finger on this one. If there is any other information that might help please ask. I can post photos but I'm not sure how much that would help. Also I wasn't sure if I should put this here or in the emergencies section, since I'm not sure if this an emergency! Thanks in advance for any help!

 

[teria]

I have a chick that is also doing that. She was treated for ear mites last week, after she had spent a few horrible days flailing around and scratching at her ears. We treated her with ear mite drops, along with treating the other three brood mates just in case. After a full week treatment she is no longer scratching or flailing, but, she is still shaking her head just as you described and has a bit of a fishy odor that I can't quite nail down.

We are going to treat her a second round starting Friday for the ear mites, just in case the eggs they lay might have survived and will start hatching out. Hoping that she will stop the head shaking from that. Otherwise,like your chick, she eats, drinks, scratches the brooder floor for bits of food, just like the other chicks.