Polish Chicken with a brain injury?

[luv2bmomjen]

I found my 10 week old Golden Polish laying in the bottom of the coop having seizures 6 days ago. I have been able to get her to regain chirping, walking, and holding her wings in now but she will not eat or drink. I have been tube feeding her to keep her alive. She has not yet attempted to peck at all. She has been in a box in my bedroom (she's my baby) and it's killing me to watch her slowly get stronger but make NO progress in the eating and drinking department and definitely seems to be blind. She also waves her neck around. I think we will have to put her to sleep tomorrow. We are so so so very very sad but we can't tube feed her forever ;-(

 

[seminolewind]

A few things come to mind with all of them. Marek's, injury, or Aspergillosis. Each one can affect the nervous system and cause behavior like that. With those 3, the chicken may not look really sick. If the chicken looks like they are sick, (laying in a corner, fluffed up, eyes closed) then my guess would be some sort of infection. If they have those symptoms and go down hill fast, I would say they ate something poisonous , moldy, etc.

A lot depends on flock history, how did you put your flock together, how old the bird is, when were the last birds added, any other deaths for unknown reasons.

 

[luv2bmomjen]

I have not seen any behaviors or illnesses in the other checks and she has been out for six days. I did not clean the coupe water or feeder. Because we were taking her to be put down tomorrow I decided to go ahead and put her with the flock in the backyard tonight. She did outstanding she started eating on her own drinking and even made her way into the coop which she had never done before. I don't think as new chicken owners that we were paying as much attention to the behaviors of the golden Polish being so different than the other breeds we have. Our other golden Polish asked just like the one that has been sick other than the head tix m waving neck.
I am praying that by making this choice the other checks will not get sick but I really believe this was a head injury or brain damage from day one and that putting her back with the flock shows me that she is ready to be back in the coop and with her sisters. It was like a miracle tonight everything we had hoped for her to be able to do she did

 

[IndigoRaven]

While integrating a new group of "teens" with our adults, half of both groups being polish, one of our young polish roos was attacked and sustained a head injury. I ran out when I heard a ruckus and he looked dead. There was only a bit of blood on his head, other than being knocked out, he looked good. I brought him in, put him in our first aid dog crate, feed him vitamin enhanced water by placing spoonfuls under his beak, and then had to leave to pick my kids up from a camp. I didn't know if he would be alive when I got home, but at least he was in a quiet space and safe. When I got home he was up and gingerly pecking at some food. He hung out for about a day and then seemed back to himself. When I brought him food and water he repeatedly asked to rejoin the flock so after another half day, I let him. Brought him back out with the teens and he immediately wanted to challenge the other polish roo (both were suppose to be pullets!). I kept him quite and separated the flocks for a couple of weeks and now we are working through integration of the flocks again. To improve matters we are adding space and roosts so that there are many places to escape attack. Since this event he is terrified of my older hens, continues to be top roo among the teens, and has become even more friendly to people. He comes running when I call his name and will chose to follow me rather than the teens when out foraging. So he is recovered but my worry is that he seems less stable on his feet than the other youngsters. He's showing some very mild signs similar to another polish that I had that was very friendly but eventually lost balance, leg and neck control, and became really skinny. At the end we kept hr in, she liked being held, and she passed in my lap as I read to my kids at bedtime. She had balance and leg issues from the time she was a pullet that got dramatically worse one day last winter, with her dying in the early spring. I have wondered whether she sustained a head injury. I love the personalities of the Polish, but their less armored heads sure make for a lot of stress.
I'm using my daughter's account right now, but just wanted to respond, as we are dealing with the aftermath of a polish head injury also.

 

[IndigoRaven]

For some strange reason we have found that the Polish that have crests that obscure their vision also seem more likely to develop strange gates (the runway walk as opposed to the more typical chicken strut), leg (knees turn in somewhat) and balance issues, and become ultra people friendly (e.g., like being carried around). I'm wondering if there is some sort of genetics that makes those traits more likely to go together.

 

[IndigoRaven]

What form did you get the B vitamin, vitamin E, and selenium in? I'm going to need to get some for my young roo. Wasn't sure where to pick up, what to get, and what dosage to use. Thanks!

 

[luv2bmomjen]

Give it time. Our Polish that I spoke about in this tread is a year and a half old now and you would never know that she was injured. She acts just like all the other chickens now. She does get continually pecked at by the others because of her odd feathers but is still healthy and no longer has any ticks or waves while she walks. Completely normal acting.

 

[erikrunnerstrom]

We just purchased a Polish pullet from The Stock Shop here in Peoria Az a week ago along with two others and a Frizzle. We called her DIZZY because she was always falling backwards when she preened herself.
This morning DIZZY was found lifeless in the brooder. The wife said she checked the brooder at 5 am and all were running around. We found her at 7 am, still warm. I tried rousing her to no avail. She was in with chicks of other breeds at the same age. Ameracaunas,sliver laced wyandottes, delawares, etc.... The wife is tore up and it is upsetting. We do not know what the cause was. Now we are overwatching the others for any signs of something.

 

[Aina]

Dear all
I am posting again in a different thread: Chica my 5 years old hen I found in the side of the street with avian pic has one eye and ine able leg. She's been hoping in one leg in my yard since then and is my happy little girl. Last Thirsday my neighbor's dog a Rottweiler chased her and I found her under the house. Seems to be ok and the next day she acted weird but still ate her papaya and tomatoes and later laid one egg. Next day she was weird not eating and I gave her a raw egg yolk she ate but turning her head in the side and sipping the yolk with a black at 90 degrees. Next days she wouldn't eat at all so I took her to the vet who found a bruise in her chest and prescribed 2 ml of meloxicam for a week. She's been sleeping since then and today was not able to stand on her one foot. I took her to the vet to show me how to tube feed her. The vet said she is too weak to eat. But I showed her a video where Cuica looks interested at the food and tries to grab it but misses it by just a tiny bit. She did it a few times then closed her one eye and went back to sleep. I think she has brain injury but there is no trauma or wounds signs... Could it be psychological Bering attacked by that dig? I live my little girl and at the same time do kit want to make her suffer. Vet said tube feeding does not hurt! Anyway I made anoth appointment for tomorrow to get a blood test and X rays and know if there is anything else... But I do need your advice! As much as I live my little girl I do not want to be selfish and make her last longer than she should... Any chances of recovery? Chica is a pet not a hen fir egg production... I'll do anything to save her but want to respect her comfort even if that breaks my heart to let her go... Thank you and Aliha!