Nuerological or something else?

[Shadrach]

This is interesting. So now I have another thought, hope you don't mind! What would you think about setting up a perch arrangement for Bracket at night in your house where she's been sleeping, close to the floor, for her to practice on? Here' my thinking. When my kids were ready to move from bassinet to bed, rather than put rails on the beds so they could not fall off, we put the mattresses on the floor. That way if they rolled off they would be startled awake but would not be hurt. They learned in short order not to roll off the bed. You say Bracket is learning. Maybe she just needs more (safe!) practice?

Did it this morning.I've put a bar about one and a half inches high in the pet carrier.

 

[Lucyspals]

I am treating a 10 week old duck with wry neck. He was bobbing his head walking drunk and falling off balance. I have been giving him vitamin di sol drops no iron mixed with vitamin e oil and selenium to help ingest the vitamin e it has been a week and 5 days he is 90 percent better.

 

[Shadrach]

Bracket is much the same. She's still getting 400UI vitamin E but not multivitamins any more. I've tried a few sleeping options including the low perch. none of them have worked and she ends up backing herself into a corner to sleep.
I'm going to fix something up in her coop. The problem is Nolia is sitting on a clutch in there at the moment.
Tribe 2 is down to 2 males and 3 females since the death of BlueSpot. Punch and Mag the two males have been pretty good but they are looking to acquire hens and the hen they've got their eye on is Myth from tribe 3 who has a high proportion of bantam genes.
I'm quite happy to have Bracket in with me at night; not quite so delighted in the morning when she starts calling for Punch. The thing is, she belongs with her tribe and even though she is only here at night I would still prefer it if she could spend the nights with her family.

 

[Shadrach]

Bracket has started laying eggs again. I have an idea where her nest is and I need to watch what happens. She obviously 'comes round' once the egg is laid because she came back to her tribe early evening and is now in with me again. What I want to know is if she sits in the same position. I can't see how it is possible for her to do the fit type shuffling on a nest, although I could be wrong. If she can sit normally to lay an egg then what am I left with?

I know she's laying because I heard her give the escort call and saw Mag returning from escort duties. She was missing for about an hour and a half.

 

[aart]

If she can sit normally to lay an egg then what am I left with?

It's a headscratcher for sure.

 

[Shadrach]

This business with Bracket gets crazier by the day.
Out of the three bantam hens left Bracket is by far the healthiest in all respects bar this neck business. She weighs the most. Her plumage is in the best condition. She is the top hen in her tribe. I watched her fight and chase off a hen from tribe 3 this morning who is almost twice her size.
This afternoon I heard her giving the escort call and Mag responding. They both went into the coop of Tribe 3 and when I looked in a while later, Bracket was in her head back position. She laid an egg. I wasn't able to wait, but a while later I heard her give the escort call again and out she came looking perfectly normal with Mag hustling her along.

 

[Shadrach]

Bracket, aka Miss Neurological has decided to sit.
I can't let her in case it makes her problem worse, although I'm not by any means certain it would make any difference. What is interesting is the last couple of days when I've taken her off the eggs, she's been in the neck back position (the vitamin E hasn't made any difference). She is also in the broody trance when sitting. Most will know when you lift a broody hen off her eggs it can take a while for the hen to 'untrance'. Ime you usually need to encourage them to stand and eat. It's not until they've come round and are standing properly that the bowls work and you get the stinky pile.
Both times with Bracket I've very gently pushed her head forward and as soon as her head reaches normal position she's fully awake; it's instant, not like other broodies.

 

[Chickassan]

My opionion not that it is worth much, is she's injured herself and her nerves are jumbled so her body thinks that is the correct position.
Manually tipping her head to normal is as good as jostleing her if that is the case that would explain the sudden awakening.
Is there a possibility something stepped on her Shaddy?

 

[Shadrach]

My opionion not that it is worth much, is she's injured herself and her nerves are jumbled so her body thinks that is the correct position.
Manually tipping her head to normal is as good as jostleing her if that is the case that would explain the sudden awakening.
Is there a possibility something stepped on her Shaddy?

I can't see how she could have received any injury from an outside source while she was in the nesting box. I could go for the jumbled nerves possibly due to a long priod of strain in this position. I have absolutely no idea how to un-jumble them though.

 

[Shadrach]

It's been a bit over a month now. I've tried a couple of ideas in the coop to keep her from falling but they don't work very well.
Last night I just let her do what she wanted. She got on the nest box roof, between the roost bar and the wall and wedged herself in a corner. When I looked in an hour later she was still there. At 3 am I checked again and she had moved but was still on the safe side of the roost bar. This morning she came out with her tribe like any normal chicken.
I've done what I can to remove any sharp edges in the coop and I think I now have to accept that this is the way she is.
I'm going to stop the vitamin E later after the weekend when I'll be able to keep a better eye on her during the day to see if it does actually make any difference.