Hen with paralyzed tail? It that possible?

[WolfLady]

Hi!

I have a hen that always has droopy tail. At first, I thought she was sick, but it's been 2 months already and she's acting normal. I did notice she was pecked (or she pecked herself?) the base of her tail to blood a month ago, but nothing concerning and it healed well by its own. I decided to touch her tail today and I realized it's stuck, very stiff, into droopy position. It's hard to explain, but my other hens if their tail are droopy, I can gently lift it up, left or right, it does move freely. That specific hen, I can't move her tail, at all, it's stiffened into that position and she never moves her tail neither.

She is 4 months old at the moment, on picture she was 3 months old. Except last month the blood from pecking (attack or herself, cannot tell), she doesn't seem to have had any injury. She's acting normal, has good energy as well. She wasn't born this way neither, I had her as a chick and her tail was normal until she turned about 3 months old.

Any idea what it could be? Could her tail muscle/bone/nerve been damaged from potential attack and caused that?



This was her at 2 months old:

 

[Eggcessive]

Whenever I have seen a pullet or hen with a lowered tail, that was a sign of being sick, possibly with a reproductive disorder. Is she low in the pecking order or very meek? Has she been eating or drinking, or acting lethargic? What do her droppings look like?

 

[Weeg]

Can you post a video of you trying to move her tail, to maybe show us how stiff it is?
Upload it to Youtube or another video platform then copy and paste the link here.

 

[WolfLady]

@Eggcessive I thought she was sick at first, but it's been over a month she's that way, she has full energy, normal dropping, eat and drink well. I believe she is indeed low on pecking order, she's the one often chased away when I give them treats and she often hang out with the babies rather than the other hens. However, her tail is really "stuck" into position.

@Weeg I'll go into the coop recording now, thought my internet being so slow in remote area, it will be a few hours before I can link it.

 

[Weeg]

@Eggcessive I thought she was sick at first, but it's been over a month she's that way, she has full energy, normal dropping, eat and drink well. I believe she is indeed low on pecking order, she's the one often chased away when I give them treats and she usually hang out with the babies rather than the other hens.

@Weeg I'll go into the coop recording now, thought my internet being so slow in remote area, it will be a few hours before I can link it.

No problem. I have internet issues to so I get it. Thanks for the video!

 

[WolfLady]

@Weeg Finally was able to upload it. At the end I filmed another hen's tail just to show the difference.

 

[Weeg]

@Weeg Finally was able to upload it. At the end I filmed another's hen tail just to show the difference.

Wow! That is stiff! Crazy! @Wyorp Rock @Eggcessive @Overo Mare @azygous what do you think of this?

 

[azygous]

You've demonstrated that this pullet does seem to have a problem with the lower end of her spine. My question is have you checked her balance and her motility? Does she walk smoothly, and does she appear to have any balance issues or lameness or limping?

If she was injured, she may have residual nerve damage. If so, she's young enough that it might regenerate. Vitamins B-6 and B-1 are great for repairing nerve damage. Give these to her every day.

 

[WolfLady]

@azygous She does walk smoothly, no limping nor balance issue, she jumps and "flies" around, balances well on the perch too. It took me a while to properly notice her tail was wrong as she acts so normal.

I'll buy those vitamins, doesn't harm to give a try, thank you!

 

[Eggcessive]

You can find vitamin B complex at drug stores that contains all B vitamins including B1 thiamine and B6. Don’t confuse B complex with B12 as some people do. Dosage is 1/4 to 1/2 tablet daily crushed into food or a spoonful of water.