Odd Silkie Behavior... Very worried... Help?

[jettgirl24]

Went out to feed the horses a few minutes ago and heard my Silkie roosters on one of my hens. Looked inside and told him to knock it off, when he wandered off the hen kind of tucked her head and started rolling back and forth. By the time I got the stall door open and got in there she was just laying on her back! I grabbed a brooder box, brought her up to the house, and gave her food and water. She seems alert and she's eating and drinking but still seems kind of odd... She almost seems as if she can't see or something the way she's got her head so close to the food and water before she pecks at it... I'm struggling to describe it but If I was to describe something similar in a horse I'd say almost a little neurologic? Everyone else in the pen (there are 6 other chickens in her pen) seem absolutely normal.

Any ideas? How would you handle/treat?

 

[Nambroth]

Oh dear. Perhaps someone with silkies can come in here and chime in; as a disclaimer I have never kept them. Does your siklie have a vaulted skull? That's what the big topknot crest is called. Oftentimes this causes a hole in the bone that exposes the brain (though it is covered in skin of course), which can make them much more prone to brain injury. Roosters like to grab the comb/head/crest of a hen when they mate, is it possible your roo could have damaged her in this way? If it's a brain injury/damage it's hard for me to say if she will recover properly or not. I hope someone with experience in this problem can help you.

This post has an illustration showing the difference, and the holes in the top of the skull. https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/435248/vaulted-skulls#post_5395126

 

[seminolewind]

That's a tough one. Like Nambroth said, she could have gotten a knock on her head. Was she okay right before the deed, or had she maybe been an easy target because she was not acting normal before hand?.

 

[jettgirl24]

She does have a vaulted skull... She's always been a little weird but she's just been acting more odd lately. She'll be doing something weird and then you pick her up and she acts like nothing is wrong at all. The more I watch her I'm actually starting to wonder if she's blind??? Just now she was sitting on her little food bowl and wanted to get off but before she would jump she'd put her head just above the ground and turn it sideways like she was trying to see where the ground is. Once she was down she waddled off like nothing. So odd, but she seems healthy for now at least?