PLEASE HELP! My Chicken keeps Falling Over and her head is tilted to the left! What is wrong??

[Caitlyn18]

Hi!

My chicken named Ash has been falling over for the past few days. She will walk a bit and then stumble or she can be standing still and just fall over. She has fallen off the roost a few times. Her head is always on its side. so rather than it being vertical, it is horiziontal!!! I am not sure what to do. I have began to think that its Merecks. Any ideas on what it could be??? She seems to be eating well (from what i have seen). We have also just had a dog attack this morning, but she had gotten away without any damage. (luckily none died but they lost a lot of feathers). I cant afford to go to a vet so i want to know how long i should wait before we have to put her down (so if it is Merecks, it doesnt spread). We dont want it to spread to the others but we dont want to lose her either because we have become attached to her.

 

[Eggcessive]

Welcome to BYC, and sorry about your hen. She sounds like she could have some neurological symptoms causing her wry neck or twisted neck, and stumbling. That can be due to a head injury, a vitamin deficiency, dehydration, or yes from certain diseases, such as Mareks, leukosis, fowl cholera and others. I would use a poultry vitamin containing thiamine, vitamin E, and selenium the mineral found in egg, tuna, nuts and seeds. Make sure that she is drinking well. I would not worry about her being infectious, since if she was exposed to Mareks, they all would have been exposed by the same source. Have you added any birds to your flock in recent weeks?