I've got an 8 year old Australorp hen that shakes her head quite a bit, as if she is trying to shake something out of her ears. She shakes anywhere from every 15 seconds to once every 2 mins.
She started this late last Sunday, I didn't think much of it till Monday morning when she was still at it. I wrapped her in a towel and with a flashlight, peeled back her ear feathers and looked in her ears. They look perfectly normal, a light grey in color. No redness, no black, green or yellow gunk. I thinned out a Q-tip and gently swabbed around as deep as I felt comfortable going and it came out clean in both ears. But I did consider possible ear mites. So I did two things, started putting a couple drops of Coconut oil in each ear daily, and I used Ivermectin Pour on, on the back of her neck on the skin only. I THOUGHT she might be better as of yesterday, but she seems just as bad today as she has all week. (How long would it take to kill mites with oil IF she has them? She has had 7 doses in her ears as of today.)
I don't think she has an ear infection, is there a surefire way to tell? She has absolutely NO signs of respiratory illness, no runny nose, no watery eyes, no swollen face, no coughing or breathing problems what so ever. She her hyper self, eats like there's no tomorrow, runs around like a young bird. Her comb, face and wattles are red, she is however still finishing up on a molt and has pin feathers on her neck. Oh and she does not have frost bite. She was wormed with Safeguard Liquid Goat wormer 2 months ago.
What else could this be? Old age, neurological, ear drum rupture, aliens?
(Excuse her messy beak, I interrupted her lunch, she loves wet mash feed)
She started this late last Sunday, I didn't think much of it till Monday morning when she was still at it. I wrapped her in a towel and with a flashlight, peeled back her ear feathers and looked in her ears. They look perfectly normal, a light grey in color. No redness, no black, green or yellow gunk. I thinned out a Q-tip and gently swabbed around as deep as I felt comfortable going and it came out clean in both ears. But I did consider possible ear mites. So I did two things, started putting a couple drops of Coconut oil in each ear daily, and I used Ivermectin Pour on, on the back of her neck on the skin only. I THOUGHT she might be better as of yesterday, but she seems just as bad today as she has all week. (How long would it take to kill mites with oil IF she has them? She has had 7 doses in her ears as of today.)
I don't think she has an ear infection, is there a surefire way to tell? She has absolutely NO signs of respiratory illness, no runny nose, no watery eyes, no swollen face, no coughing or breathing problems what so ever. She her hyper self, eats like there's no tomorrow, runs around like a young bird. Her comb, face and wattles are red, she is however still finishing up on a molt and has pin feathers on her neck. Oh and she does not have frost bite. She was wormed with Safeguard Liquid Goat wormer 2 months ago.
What else could this be? Old age, neurological, ear drum rupture, aliens?
(Excuse her messy beak, I interrupted her lunch, she loves wet mash feed)
(I got her on daily Poly Vi Sol vitamins and I believe this arrested a second molt) I did a physical search on her head yesterday for ingrown feathers or funky growth or skin and saw nothing. Her head has no more pin feathers, only her neck and nothing there either. They are fairly grown in by now as well.
I have not checked her nares yet and will maybe attempt a nasal rinse? She isn't breathing weird or heavily, no whistling and such but she eats her food as wet mash, maybe some got up there?
