head shaking Milwaukee

[rcanz01]

I have a 10 month old new Hampshire red that has started shaking her head back and forth. Not like a "no" shake but more like a ray Charles sway thing. It has been below zero at night and I was wondering if this can be from the cold? Her comb got a little dusky and tiped with black so I did the Vaseline thing. Is it a pain response to frostbite? No ear mites I can see. Can mites even live in below zero temps. All other chickens seem ok. She didn't roost with them the last 2 nights. She slept in a nesting box. Last night was about -10. But the first night it was about 15 degrees. I guess other recent change would be that they have been more interested in staying in the coop. My run is covered but some snow got in and they are not a fan. Their main food and water is out there. I put smaller ones in the coop to make sure they get fed but I want them to go out and not be such wimps. They live in Wisconsin and it gets cold so they need to be able to deal, and from what I have heard they should be ok in cold as long as they have good ventilation and no drafts in the coop. Any ideas about the head swaying?

 

[realsis]

Head shaking can be from the ears or it can even be the first signs of a respitory illness. watch her closely for any other clues she might be displaying. Listen to her breathing make sure she is not wheezing or coughing.check for any discharge from the nostrils. Watch for sneezing. It might also be the comb is bothering her as you suspected. You might consider switching from using vasoline to Bag Balm. You can get the bag balm at most feed stores. It might help her if the comb is bothering her. It's very soothing. Also it will work to protect her skin a bit better than vasoline. I'd just keep a close watch on her and make sure she does not start displaying signs of a respitory illness. Try the bag balm and see if it helps. I wish you the best and hope this helps.

 

[rcanz01]

Could the respitory illness be from ventilation? Wouldnt all the chickens be bothered? And if it is ears what are my options for issues I can look into? She seems better a little tonight. She is in my basement and u think she ate some oatmeal. I gave her water and a scrambled egg for dinner. She did drink. Hasn't ate yet. Doesn't seem to enjoy putting her head down so I lifted food and water up to her. Her comb is droopy too. And her neck just seems crooked even though she isn't waving it around at this point.

 

[Eggcessive]

I have heard of frostbite causing head shaking, but this sounds a little neurological like wry neck. I would continue watching her, since wry neck can be a symptom of mycoplasma, Mareks disease, head injuries, Newcastles disease,and vitamin deficiency. As a precaution I would probably start her on some poultry vitamins, something with thiamine (B1) and vitamin E with selenium.

 

[rcanz01]

She died on Christmas. No answers. I had been giving them vitamins I. their water about once a week and they had no exposure to wild birds. I lost mine to marked a few no the back. Probably was respitory as i cant see frost bite taking her like that.

 

[Eggcessive]

Sorry for your loss.