Jerking neck movements in adult hen -- puzzled.

[wackypig]

Hi All,

When I opened my coop this morning, I noticed one of my adult hens (a little over 2 years) was exhibiting some strange behaviors.

Nancy is a "production red", which I'm told is a cross between a New Hampshire and Rhode Island Red. She has been acting fairly normal until this morning with the exception that a couple days ago, she was acting more reserved than usual (ie not begging for food, even when I was offering them strawberries). This morning, she was at the bottom of the coop underneath a perch with her wings splayed and her neck was jerking around. At first, I thought she was having a seizure. I picked her up and placed her outside. She pooped (a normal looking poop) and then sat back down. She's been open mouth breathing as well. And, again, her neck keeps twisting about and she makes clucking noises.

All of our hens (flock of 5) are free range when we are home. When we are at work, they have an open-top pen that they stay in with access to their coop, which is a structure mounted on top of the earth (no wooden bottom). They have pine straw for bedding. We feed them a standard layer feed from the feed store as well as sparing scratch grains. They got a little bit of cottage cheese yesterday as well as some strawberry greens and some wilted lettuce.

This is very mysterious to me. We've had them a year without any problems, and the person who owned them before (we got them with our house purchase) had no problems either. I don't know if she could have gotten into something sinister while free-ranging around the yard.

Sorry for the long post, but trying to be as detailed as possible!

Thanks for any suggestions!

 

[horsesandboots]

Hi All,

When I opened my coop this morning, I noticed one of my adult hens (a little over 2 years) was exhibiting some strange behaviors.

Nancy is a "production red", which I'm told is a cross between a New Hampshire and Rhode Island Red. She has been acting fairly normal until this morning with the exception that a couple days ago, she was acting more reserved than usual (ie not begging for food, even when I was offering them strawberries). This morning, she was at the bottom of the coop underneath a perch with her wings splayed and her neck was jerking around. At first, I thought she was having a seizure. I picked her up and placed her outside. She pooped (a normal looking poop) and then sat back down. She's been open mouth breathing as well. And, again, her neck keeps twisting about and she makes clucking noises.

All of our hens (flock of 5) are free range when we are home. When we are at work, they have an open-top pen that they stay in with access to their coop, which is a structure mounted on top of the earth (no wooden bottom). They have pine straw for bedding. We feed them a standard layer feed from the feed store as well as sparing scratch grains. They got a little bit of cottage cheese yesterday as well as some strawberry greens and some wilted lettuce.

This is very mysterious to me. We've had them a year without any problems, and the person who owned them before (we got them with our house purchase) had no problems either. I don't know if she could have gotten into something sinister while free-ranging around the yard.

Sorry for the long post, but trying to be as detailed as possible!


Thanks for any suggestions!

Do you have pics?
What are her leg doing?
What do her eyes look like?
Can she walk?
Is she eating?

 

[wackypig]

Unfortunately, I do not have any pics at the moment.

She hobbled around a bit, but seemed really dazed. When I tried to pick her up again, she attempted to run away (which is normal behavior), but slower than usual. And then she plopped herself down and started pecking at the ground around her. She seems able to walk. I had my boyfriend pick her up, and we made sure she was able to move both feet and both wings. I don't think she is exhibiting paralysis.

Her eyes are very alert. Open, clear.

She did eat when I offered food, but not much.

 

[horsesandboots]

Unfortunately, I do not have any pics at the moment.

She hobbled around a bit, but seemed really dazed. When I tried to pick her up again, she attempted to run away (which is normal behavior), but slower than usual. And then she plopped herself down and started pecking at the ground around her. She seems able to walk. I had my boyfriend pick her up, and we made sure she was able to move both feet and both wings. I don't think she is exhibiting paralysis. 

Her eyes are very alert. Open, clear.

She did eat when I offered food, but not much.

Hmmm.... What do her stools look like?

 

[horsesandboots]

Have you checked her crop for impaction?

 

[wackypig]

Once I removed her from the coop, she made, what I considered, a very normal looking poop. A little bit green, average sized. Not runny or foamy at all. Just a regular old poop.

 

[wackypig]

Oh dear. How do I go about doing that? Is that something that might be caused by her swallowing something nefarious?

 

[horsesandboots]

The crop is located in the upper chest area. If it is impacted it will feel larger than normal and hard like a tennis ball.
A healthy crop is soft.
You can also open the mouth of the chicken and smell. If there is a foul odor it is definitely impacted or sour.
If the crop is fine then you have another issue on your hands.

 

[wackypig]

Thanks for all your help, horseandboots!

Just to update... when I got home yesterday, Nancy was no longer jerking her neck around. In fact, she was up and grazing with the other hens. I wouldn't say she seems 100% because she's still moving a bit slow, but a definite improvement. She even laid an egg yesterday. And this morning, she was up and about like usual.

I'm going to start checking their crops on the regular. If for no other reason, it will get me used to knowing how they are supposed to feel. So, thanks for the good advice!

 

[horsesandboots]

Good chance she cleaned her crop out herself.

At least now you know where the crop is.