Nuerological or something else?

[Cryss]

Just a thought...would she roost better if the roost bar was flat? I'm building a new coop and this time I'm using 2X4s wide side up as roosts so that they can cover their feet rather than curl their toes around a thinner roost. Maybe replace the roost she prefers to see if she keeps her balance. Heck, I might consider a 2X6 even. Just a thought but it couldn't hurt to try it.

 

[N F C]

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.

It sounds like she's figured out a way of keeping herself from falling all on her own. If that works for her, it's all good, right?

 

[aart]

It sounds like she's figured out a way of keeping herself from falling all on her own. If that works for her, it's all good, right?

That's what I was thinking.
He's tried about everything, not much more to do but observe and hope for the best.

 

[N F C]

That's what I was thinking.
He's tried about everything, not much more to do but observe and hope for the best.

Yep. Smart little girl to figure things out on her own

I can see why it would still be a puzzle as to the why & what happened. But maybe it's enough to know she's going to be ok doing things her way.

 

[Shadrach]

Just a thought...would she roost better if the roost bar was flat? I'm building a new coop and this time I'm using 2X4s wide side up as roosts so that they can cover their feet rather than curl their toes around a thinner roost. Maybe replace the roost she prefers to see if she keeps her balance. Heck, I might consider a 2X6 even. Just a thought but it couldn't hurt to try it.

I did try a flat perch; she still fell off.
Mainly she wants to be with her tribe. She's been really patient with me grabbing her every night and making her sleep a metre away from me each night. I have trouble getting one of my own species to put up with that.

 

[Shadrach]

It sounds like she's figured out a way of keeping herself from falling all on her own. If that works for her, it's all good, right?

So far she hasn't injured herself when falling. That's really all I'm concerned about.
I've got other oddballs here, just odd in a different way. It's me that is doing the worrying; I don't think she cares, or even knows how scary she looks when she goes into tilt mode.
As long as she eats and drinks and holds her rank in the tribe, I'm good.

 

[aart]

I have trouble getting one of my own species to put up with that.

OhBoy...we could have a field day with that!!

 

[N F C]

OhBoy...we could have a field day with that!!

That right there might be new thread-worthy!

 

[Shadrach]

I stopped giving Bracket Vit E shortly after my previous post, so it's almost been a month now.
I've been able to watch her quite a lot over this period and either her problem is improving or she's learned how to overcome a lot of the disadvantages.
When I stopped giving the Vit E if Bracket drank from a container that where the water level was about mid body height, she would tip her head back much further than normal and promptly sit down with her head thrown back. She doesn't do this any more.
Sometimes when dozing with her tribe she would nod off and her head would go back; she doesn't do that anymore either.
She had a spell of not roosting in the Magnolia tree with the others at dusk; I think she fell out once too often. Recently she's been going up the tree again and flies down with the rest for supper.
Earlier when going to roost, she wasn't even getting on to a perch. She would get just into the coop, throw her head back and skate around the floor until she found a place to wedge herself in. She gets on a perch now. She can't stay on if she closes her eyes but her head isn't going as far back as it was.
Most nights I go back to Tribe 2's coop after roost time to see where Bracket has ended up and move her if necessary. I've tried to keep her as close to the others as possible and this has meant that her safe spot has become the gap between the roost and the wall.
The others in the tribe know Bracket has a problem. When Bracket was still skating around the floor the others would wait for her to settle, or me to intervene before they went into the coop.
The strangest thing of all though is when Bracket sleeps in the gap between the roost bar and the wall, she's below the bum height of the others on the roost bar. Not once has Bracket come out in the morning with poop on her! There is a bit over a meter in length of the gap and when I've checked after roost time, wherever Bracket has ended up, the others have adjusted their position so they are not directly over her.

 

[Shadrach]

Bracket (aka Miss Neurological sat and hatched three chicks with her two sisters last month. I had some reservations regarding this cooperative sit having had problems with double sits in the past. There were disadvantages which I won't go into here, but the end result was three healthy chicks with three mums. The chicks show no mother preference and apart from Bracket trying to boss everyone about the six of them are out and about free ranging as a group.
So far they've made their way to roost a bit earlier than the others and I had a couple of evenings of assisting the chicks on the ramp into their coop. I check each night to make sure all the chicks are there. All three hens and the chicks tend to sleep in one small nest box in a pile.
I often check all the coops before I go to bed and I've looked in on Tribe 2 as I've done this.
The first couple of times I've checked the mums and chicks late at night, as one might expect, all the hens are alert before I've opened the door.
On night three it finally sank in; Bracket's head wasn't thrown back. She was sitting in the pile looking perfectly normal. Just sitting would in the past make Bracket throw her head back and trance.
While she was incubating the eggs she had her head thrown back. You could pick her up and her head would stay in that position until you put her on the ground, yet there she was fully alert and looking normal just with a door opening.
I've checked at various times and she looked normal every time.
In the short term at least Bracket is fixed!
It could be she doesn't sleep the same way while she's got the chicks under her. It could be that the hatching and now care have switched something on or off in her head. It could be a number of things and hse may go back to her head throwing once she stops caring for the chicks.