Hi all,
I have a hen who has recently started having some odd “episodes” and I can’t find anything online that gives me an explanation. On Wednesday she didn’t come out of the run with the rest of the chickens so I picked her up to look her over and she started what I thought was the process of dying (the whole head/neck turning in a circle and muscle spasm thing that chickens tend to do as their body shuts down) so I held her until she went limp (I assumed she died because I didn’t see her breathing either) and then set her down in the grass to finish my chicken chores, and when I came back she stood up and stumbled away. what?!? Since then she’s been a little off and I’ve been giving her Nutri-Drench for a boost, but she’s eating and drinking so I thought it was some fluke thing. Tonight the same thing happened when she didn’t make her way to the run by dark. She was sitting down and I picked her up and she looked like she was dying again, so I brought her inside to sit with her thinking that she really was dying this time. But, she’s fine now and is staring at me from the “I’m not acting right so mom brought me inside to watch me” box.
I’m wondering if they may be seizures or some other neurological issue but I’m stumped at this point. If it happens again I’ll see if my vet will take a look at her, but this group usually has some helpful advice and input so I figured I’d ask around in the meantime.
Thanks!
I have a hen who has recently started having some odd “episodes” and I can’t find anything online that gives me an explanation. On Wednesday she didn’t come out of the run with the rest of the chickens so I picked her up to look her over and she started what I thought was the process of dying (the whole head/neck turning in a circle and muscle spasm thing that chickens tend to do as their body shuts down) so I held her until she went limp (I assumed she died because I didn’t see her breathing either) and then set her down in the grass to finish my chicken chores, and when I came back she stood up and stumbled away. what?!? Since then she’s been a little off and I’ve been giving her Nutri-Drench for a boost, but she’s eating and drinking so I thought it was some fluke thing. Tonight the same thing happened when she didn’t make her way to the run by dark. She was sitting down and I picked her up and she looked like she was dying again, so I brought her inside to sit with her thinking that she really was dying this time. But, she’s fine now and is staring at me from the “I’m not acting right so mom brought me inside to watch me” box.
I’m wondering if they may be seizures or some other neurological issue but I’m stumped at this point. If it happens again I’ll see if my vet will take a look at her, but this group usually has some helpful advice and input so I figured I’d ask around in the meantime.
Thanks!
