I have a 1 week old Rhode Island Red and she shakes her head from side to side every few seconds or so, even while she sleeps! Does this mean that she is sick? if so is there anything that I can do for her? Should I worry about her making my other baby chicks sick as well?
Weird....that's a new one to me. Vitamin deficiency?? I like to give my babies a drop or two of infant vitamins (no iron kind) in their drinking water for the first week or so. Keep us posted...I am curious.
Thank you for responding. At what age did you start giving your chicks vitamins? What type are they and where can I purchase them?
Just regular infant vitamins without iron. Brand name is Poly-vi-sol. I usually pick up the generic store brand version at walmart, walgreens or cvs....any drug store should have it. I just add a couple of drops to their water starting day 1. I believe for problem chicks you can give a drop full strength....but please check it out first. Do a search here for Poly-vi-sol and a lot of good posts should pop up. I wish someone else had know exactly why your little one was doing the head thing. I do know the vitamins won't hurt and chicks can have a lot of weird symptoms from vitamin deficiency. Other than the head shakes how is the baby doing??
OK- I looked up the poly-vi-sol and yes, you can give the chick an undiluted drop directly on its little beak. One drop a day for 3 or 4 days is fine. If it is a neuro deficit caused by nutrition it should clear up really fast, Here is some info on the strange problems associated with chick vitamin deficiency. http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=2114&page=49
