Help ! Hen walking in circles - Head turned backwards.

[courtney19]

Hi. I only seem to write on here when I'm having problems... but here it goes.

I noticed this morning that one of my hens was looking up at me and walking in circles while the other girls were running around eating cracked corn. She finally followed another hen into the coop, and so I left for work. I didn't notice her doing this yesterday, but my mom, who was watching them a few days ago, noticed her do it a few times too.

Does anyone know what could be wrong with her? The few things I have managed to find don't seem very good.

 

[PlumTuckered]

I had a Hen that walked in circles when she was out in the open...in our case, our Hen was blind. Once she went blind we put her in a coop of her own (she was always anti-social so this didn't seem to bother her a bit). Once a day we'd bring her out into the yard to peck the grass/dust bathe etc and she was fine until other chickens came near, then she'd walk in circles and call to us. From what we could tell she was only able to see shadows. I hope you can figure out what's going on with your Hen.

Michelle

 

[courtney19]

thank you for responding. i'm not sure if blindness is the issue, or if it's some sort of brain function problem. she looks at me, but seems a bit confused. she tries to hang out with the other girls, but while they are all eating, she tries to eat a little, but ends up walking in circles. yesterday i didn't notice anything, but looking back, she was acting a little distant then, too. today is definitely much worse.

the diseases i have been able to find about walking in circles are newcastle disease and listeriosis... but i don't really know much about either. so, i'm taking her to a vet at 6... hopefully they will be able to figure something out.

 

[courtney19]

So, the vet couldn't find anything from the initial exam. We are waiting on bloodwork, and they put her on some antibiotics and anti-inflammatory.

Her condition seems worse... as her head pretty much stays turned backward now. And when she tries to eat, she has a hard time aiming at the food. So she's just standing around. Ugh.

 

[KinderKorner]

It's a condition called wry neck. Look it up.

You need Vit E, B Complex, Prednisone, selenium.

 

[courtney19]

thank you for your advice. i added some vitamin e, b and selenuim to the anti-inflammatory and antibiotics that the vet prescribed. he said that if i'm careful with the amount and giving the vitamins orally, she should be ok.

so, things are looking up today. her head is no longer facing backwards, and she is doing a lot better eating, too. i let her in the yard for a little while, and she was able to walk a somewhat straight line instead of just in circles. i am feeling hopeful.

 

[siroiszoo]

I hope she gets better. This place is awesome for finding solutions quickly.

 

[nikkiwinder]

How has your hen been doing, did you get the bloodwork results ? I have a hen with the same symptoms and she is defenitely blind. I am going to look up Wry Neck but hopefully your feedback will give a clue as to what is wrong

Much Appreciated
Nikki