Is she okay?

[lilwanderer]

Worried about this girl, she wasn't like this last night and I've never seen something like this.
She's just twitching her head non-stop, what is this and can It be fixed?
She also seems unstable when moving around- brain damage or something?
She's a standard blue cochin, 5ish months old- no eggs yet.
I've been watching her all morning so far, she just won't quit.

 

[GirlsHuntToo]

Never heard of this before - @Eggcessive @Wyorp Rock @azygous

 

[azygous]

Is she also scratching at her head?

It could be one of two things or both. An ear infection will produce these symptoms as will a simple itchy dry ear. A vitamin E issue could also be starting.

Wrap her snugly in a towel to confine wings and feet. Have a helper holder her steady while you take a strong flashlight and look into both ears. Ears are behind the tiny soft flaps on the sides of the head. Push the flap forward and you'll see the ear canal.

Look for crusty buildup and swelling and drainage. Next pry open her beak and look into her mouth and throat. It should be clean and smooth with no crusty lesions. Report back here with what you see.

 

[lilwanderer]

Is she also scratching at her head?

It could be one of two things or both. An ear infection will produce these symptoms as will a simple itchy dry ear. A vitamin E issue could also be starting.

Wrap her snugly in a towel to confine wings and feet. Have a helper holder her steady while you take a strong flashlight and look into both ears. Ears are behind the tiny soft flaps on the sides of the head. Push the flap forward and you'll see the ear canal.

Look for crusty buildup and swelling and drainage. Next pry open her beak and look into her mouth and throat. It should be clean and smooth with no crusty lesions. Report back here with what you see.

No scratching that I've seen- Her ears look fine from what i can tell.
She was pretty calm with the mouth check, got soke pictures- looks fine to me as well.
Also when I went out to get her, she's not twitching as bad anymore, occasional twitching but it's not as aggressive as before.
Here's what the camera caught

-
Here she is just checking the bathroom out where I had her, she seems fine now- Really confused on what that was all about. I have videos of the twitching, wish I could upload them here.

 

[azygous]

What a lovely little lady. I bet she has a case of itchy ear. If you have a very small oral syringe or an eye dropper, wrap her up again and put one drop of mineral, castor, olive, or liquid coconut oil into each ear. If that doesn't work and her symptoms get suddenly worse, give her a vitamin E capsule directly into her beak and a little egg to eat.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

She's just twitching her head non-stop, what is this and can It be fixed?
She also seems unstable when moving around- brain damage or something?
She's a standard blue cochin, 5ish months old- no eggs yet.
I've been watching her all morning so far, she just won't quit.

She's lovely!

For video, upload to youtube and provide a link.

Have you notice any coughing or sneezing?
She has a bit of mucous in her nostril, so I wonder if she needs her nostrils cleaned up a bit.

 

[lilwanderer]

She's lovely!

For video, upload to youtube and provide a link.

Have you notice any coughing or sneezing?
She has a bit of mucous in her nostril, so I wonder if she needs her nostrils cleaned up a bit.

Just uploaded the video- There's the link I believe.
No coughing or sneezing. Yes i saw her nostril, wiped it off shortly after posting that.
She perched fine tonight, twitching hasn't started back up so far.

 

[azygous]

Wow! That video sure said more than words could. I've never seen that sort of intensity in head shaking before. Is it non-stop as it appears to be in the video? If so, I would get her on vitamin E as soon as possible. Try to find 1000mg. Once capsule per day with a sliver of selenium for maximum absorption. It looks more neurological than anything else.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Wow! That video sure said more than words could. I've never seen that sort of intensity in head shaking before. Is it non-stop as it appears to be in the video? If so, I would get her on vitamin E as soon as possible. Try to find 100mg. Once capsule per day with a sliver of selenium for maximum absorption. It looks more neurological than anything else.

Wholeheartedly agree!

@lilwanderer one other question. She stopped the shaking completely when you brought her inside? No more shaking at all?
Are the Guineas new? Does she shake the most when the birds are making a lot of noise?
Just asking.

BUT I would start her on vitamin therapy as suggested, that's some shaking I've never seen before either.

 

[azygous]

I watched the video again. I wanted to see what my second impression would be. I had a friend with Parkinson's and her shaking was of that sort. The type of head shaking I've seen in my chickens has varied from the most common head shake every second or so that is not uniformly timed but more compulsive. Most chickens do it from time to time. The other type I've seen is associated with an irritation in the ear or shaking the head to flick off water or other wet substance on the comb. This latter is extremely erratic.

This chicken's head shaking is closest to what I've seen in a human with Parkinson's which is a neurological affliction.