Guinea falling over

[sirrobyn0]

Ok, so I've got a Guinea that keeps falling over when she walks. This started probably about 10 days ago. At first I thought she was a male, our males have been a bit aggressive this spring, so we looked her over found nothing visually wrong, and no apparent broken bones. We separated her from the flock assuming she would heal. Over the course of the last 10 days, she seems to have gotten somewhat better, but no where near where I'd be comfortable putting her back with the flock. We realized last week that she is a she, though she hasn't laid any eggs since being separated, she been calling to the boys. And her call is definitely female.

The other things is that she only falls to the right. As in she'll walk a little and then fall to her right, never to her left. She has been eating and drinking just fine, but because of the copious amount of rain we have been having here it's hard to get a look at her poo.

I don't think she is egg bound. I couldn't locate any broken bones, but I'm open to any thoughts or ideas.

Thanks,
Rob

 

[R2elk]

Ok, so I've got a Guinea that keeps falling over when she walks. This started probably about 10 days ago. At first I thought she was a male, our males have been a bit aggressive this spring, so we looked her over found nothing visually wrong, and no apparent broken bones. We separated her from the flock assuming she would heal. Over the course of the last 10 days, she seems to have gotten somewhat better, but no where near where I'd be comfortable putting her back with the flock. We realized last week that she is a she, though she hasn't laid any eggs since being separated, she been calling to the boys. And her call is definitely female.

The other things is that she only falls to the right. As in she'll walk a little and then fall to her right, never to her left. She has been eating and drinking just fine, but because of the copious amount of rain we have been having here it's hard to get a look at her poo.

I don't think she is egg bound. I couldn't locate any broken bones, but I'm open to any thoughts or ideas.

Thanks,
Rob

Guineas seem to be quite susceptible to low calcium levels. It may be related to how much calcium they use when laying eggs since the eggs are much harder than chicken eggs.

One of the symptoms of low calcium in guineas is loss of motor control. Your hen may be right on the verge teetering between just barely enough calcium and not quite enough. Make sure that she has oyster shell available or as a quick fix you can purchase a liquid calcium supplement (often available int pet stores) that can be mixed into her water. Make sure that water is not accessible to the males.

Some hens just cannot properly process calcium due to a vitamin D deficiency. You may want to give her a supplement such as Nutri-Drench.

Good luck.

 

[sirrobyn0]

Guineas seem to be quite susceptible to low calcium levels. It may be related to how much calcium they use when laying eggs since the eggs are much harder than chicken eggs.

One of the symptoms of low calcium in guineas is loss of motor control. Your hen may be right on the verge teetering between just barely enough calcium and not quite enough. Make sure that she has oyster shell available or as a quick fix you can purchase a liquid calcium supplement (often available int pet stores) that can be mixed into her water. Make sure that water is not accessible to the males.

Some hens just cannot properly process calcium due to a vitamin D deficiency. You may want to give her a supplement such as Nutri-Drench.

Good luck.

Thank you I had not thought of a Calcium deficiency. For better or worse my Guineas and chickens live in the same coop, (they get out to free range plenty). The only time I have given Oyster Shell is when I have seen a soft shell or two in the chicken eggs and that hasn't been in quite sometime, so I will make sure she gets access to oyster shell ASAP. Since she is separated I could put something in the water that is just for her, I will check out the pet store on my drive home.

Thanks,
Rob

 

[sirrobyn0]

On the off chance anyone is following this thread I just wanted to say that I was unable to find Nutri-drench locally. So we went with something we had on hand that has both Calcium and D in it and well she has oyster shell available to her now. I will report back as to the progress whether good or bad.

 

[sirrobyn0]

I'm not sure if this is direct affect or how fast the vitamins would kick in but she seems to be doing a lot better tonight. She's clearly not 100% yet, but she is quite a bit better this evening for sure. Will continue to monitor her and post.

 

[sirrobyn0]

Well unless she takes a turn for the worst this is likely going to be my last update. She's doing a lot better. Still not 100%, but she's with the flock and doing her thing. Thanks for the advice!

 

[sirrobyn0]

Ok, a month later and she is back to normal. I'm no longer able to tell her apart from the others by the way she walks. So it would appear to have been a calcium issue. Thanks again!