New polish crested acting strange and balding

[Roostersgalore]

Hi. Im in a complicated situation. A guy offered to take two of my three roosters that I was struggling to keep separate from the one they were bullying. In return for me buying and picking up 4 bantams.
They were understandably stressed by transport and unfamiliar handling. They were a bit too warm in the car but the ride was an hour and i maybe unwisely immediately took them in for a wash. my silkie is routinely bathed and i was thinking of getting some of the germs off from their old flock as well as the farm smell. They were quite accepting but maybe a very abrupt welcome.
It’s good to inspect closer in a bath too. The polish crested is bald on the back of her head. After the shower, I caught her backing up/ away and kind of looking up. This was repeated a few times. It looked odd and reminded me of how animal’s act when they have brain issues. It’s only been once but repeated a series of times when it happened.She was under a small low table at the time so it may have been confusion/ trying to look up past the crest a bit awkwardly. Their poops are all runny and some coral/ reddish. Thinking that could be the warm car ride and stress? And intestinal shedding as its evening? They are all very quiet and calm but then again my experience with chickens are pubescent roosters. Was maybe thinking the backing up could be the unfamiliar sensation of drying skin on the bald scalp? She was walking a bit weirdly but chalked that up to being waterlogged and a bit flustered and unsure of the new environmen.

Dont see any dark blood as of yet. They are almost at laying age. We basically don’t have Newcastle disease in this country. I’m terrified of mareks as I don’t think they allow non commercial vaccines for mareks.

it’s kind of urgent as if it is mareks then I have to bleach everything including myself. I’ll keep them in a box indoors overnight and then set up a quarantine area outdoors tomorrow as it’s dark now.

but I have no car and no nearby vet so am just hoping i didn’t ask someone to drive two hours just for the hens to be contagious.

I have used up an enormous favor for driving to pick them up to solve the rooster problem but am so scared for my remaining boy.

sorry for the ramble- very new to everything and also slightly sad at rehoming my boys so exhausted and a bit emotional!

 

[HollowOfWisps]

Hi. Im in a complicated situation. A guy offered to take two of my three roosters that I was struggling to keep separate from the one they were bullying. In return for me buying and picking up 4 bantams.
They were understandably stressed by transport and unfamiliar handling. They were a bit too warm in the car but the ride was an hour and i maybe unwisely immediately took them in for a wash. my silkie is routinely bathed and i was thinking of getting some of the germs off from their old flock as well as the farm smell. They were quite accepting but maybe a very abrupt welcome.
It’s good to inspect closer in a bath too. The polish crested is bald on the back of her head. After the shower, I caught her backing up/ away and kind of looking up. This was repeated a few times. It looked odd and reminded me of how animal’s act when they have brain issues. It’s only been once but repeated a series of times when it happened.She was under a small low table at the time so it may have been confusion/ trying to look up past the crest a bit awkwardly. Their poops are all runny and some coral/ reddish. Thinking that could be the warm car ride and stress? And intestinal shedding as its evening? They are all very quiet and calm but then again my experience with chickens are pubescent roosters. Was maybe thinking the backing up could be the unfamiliar sensation of drying skin on the bald scalp? She was walking a bit weirdly but chalked that up to being waterlogged and a bit flustered and unsure of the new environmen.

Dont see any dark blood as of yet. They are almost at laying age. We basically don’t have Newcastle disease in this country. I’m terrified of mareks as I don’t think they allow non commercial vaccines for mareks.

it’s kind of urgent as if it is mareks then I have to bleach everything including myself. I’ll keep them in a box indoors overnight and then set up a quarantine area outdoors tomorrow as it’s dark now.

but I have no car and no nearby vet so am just hoping i didn’t ask someone to drive two hours just for the hens to be contagious.

I have used up an enormous favor for driving to pick them up to solve the rooster problem but am so scared for my remaining boy.

sorry for the ramble- very new to everything and also slightly sad at rehoming my boys so exhausted and a bit emotional!

Pictures of the poop in question? Polish often have a bald spot when they've been bullied by other chickens who peck the back of their head. As far as acting weird it could be the new environment, dehydration, stress or any number of things. If she does it again and you can get it on video, upload it to YouTube and post a link everyone would be better able to tell you if it's new environment behavior or something more serious.

 

[Lizzy733]

Give them some time and monitor their behavior for now.

The balding spot could be from mites, skin infection, bullying or even overmating. Did you notice any mites while grooming them? Is the skin clear of injury or infection with visible pin feathers starting to come in?

If your property is small, there's not much you can do in regards to quarantine as your main flock (or boy) will likely be exposed to their dander though wind unless you quarantine them indoors.

Are polish vaulted? I know silkies can be really sensitive to vitamin deficiencies when vaulted and heat can take a heavy toll on any chicken, usually much more so than extreme cold.

Maybe keep them in a cool place for now and offer vitamins in their water - even a splash of apple cider vinegar can give them a bit of a vitamin boost if you have nothing poultry specific on hand.

 

[Roostersgalore]

Pictures of the poop in question? Polish often have a bald spot when they've been bullied by other chickens who peck the back of their head. As far as acting weird it could be the new environment, dehydration, stress or any number of things. If she does it again and you can get it on video, upload it to YouTube and post a link everyone would be better able to tell you if it's new environment behavior or something more serious.

Sorry for forgetting to reply- the poop had dried by the time I got pics but think its just lining and watery from stress.
The weird behaviour is gone only thing now is occasional head flicking and a droopy tail but also occasional.
I think the head movement was from trying to figure out the ceiling or something. My silkie sometimes glitches out a bit if i mess around with smart lighting settings when he’s indoors. Kinda looked similar to that. And once I thought he was having neurological issues and turns out he was tracking the movement of a fungus gnat that he caught mid flight.


she should be nearly laying age so put out oyster shell today. In case it’s laying related w the tail droop. It does work however and she has an appetite.
Flighty as all heck almost escaped the property today. But not stressed or lethargic.
I’m used to silkie butts so have never seen tail positioning up close with normal feathers. Maybe they move them more than I notice. W the silkie it’s all indistinguishable fluff .

 

[Roostersgalore]

For future reference- she had chicken lice. The whole batch did. Probably the lice causing it!