My 12 week old chicken shakes head to toe

[nicolebasse]

Just moved my chickens out to their new coop (never lived in before) five days ago. The smallest bird started shaking the next day. None of the others are doing this and she still eats and drinks. She shakes so hard sometimes she looks like she’s losing her balance. Yesterday I noticed she was being picked on and is now a wee bit bald on her tailbone. Would being picked on cause that extreme nervousness or should I be more worried that it’s a disease? She’s the one with her head down

 

[Eggcessive]

Can you make sure that she is getting enough food and water by taking her out for times to get some? Did she ever have tremors or shake when she was just a couple of days old? Does she tremor when she is not being handled? She is probably low in the pecking order and scared. I would spend some extra time with the pullets and watch their behavior with her. A chick vitamin in the water for a few days, or give her a couple of drops of Poultry NutriDrench daily for about 5 days would be good to try. I have a bantam who tembles when I pick her up and hold her, but she doesn’t do that normally.

Edited to say, welcome to BYC. What are you feeding your pullets?

 

[nicolebasse]

She’s an Australorp

 

[nicolebasse]

Can you make sure that she is getting enough food and water by taking her out for times to get some? Did she ever have tremors or shake when she was just a couple of days old? Does she tremor when she is not being handled? She is probably low in the pecking order and scared. I would spend some extra time with the pullets and watch their behavior with her. A chick vitamin in the water for a few days, or give her a couple of drops of Poultry NutriDrench daily for about 5 days would be good to try. I have a bantam who tembles when I pick her up and hold her, but she doesn’t do that normally.

Edited to say, welcome to BYC. What are you feeding your pullets?

She didn’t start trembling until I put them all in the new coop and she is the runt of the flock. When I pick her up and cuddle her she will bury her head in my neck and stop trembling for a bit

 

[nicolebasse]

Can you make sure that she is getting enough food and water by taking her out for times to get some? Did she ever have tremors or shake when she was just a couple of days old? Does she tremor when she is not being handled? She is probably low in the pecking order and scared. I would spend some extra time with the pullets and watch their behavior with her. A chick vitamin in the water for a few days, or give her a couple of drops of Poultry NutriDrench daily for about 5 days would be good to try. I have a bantam who tembles when I pick her up and hold her, but she doesn’t do that normally.

Edited to say, welcome to BYC. What are you feeding your pullets?

Medicated chick starter

 

[Eggcessive]

Is she having any runny droppings? It doesn’t hurt to treat them all for possible coccidiosis with Corid, since that can be a common reason for illness or failure to thrive. The dosage is 2 tsp of Corid liquid per gallon of water for 5-7 days. She may need to be treated specially until she is bigger. Watch for bullying, and if one particular chicken is doing most of it, try separating that one for a few days.

 

[nicolebasse]

Medicated chick starter

She stopped trembling when I picked her up, she would bury her head in my hair. She’s not doing it anymore but I agree with you, she’s at the bottom of the pecking order. After about three weeks of them free ranging, she’s got her confidence back.