Pullet with a twitch

[7acres]

I have a pullet that I got from someone else. She is about 3 or 4 months old. She is in a pen with about 12 more that are near the same age. I noticed a couple of days ago that she looked unusual when she walked. She seems to have a slight twitch all over, it is very slight. When she walks she pulls her head down and then pops it up with a fast jerky motion. I separated her and she is eating and drinking. I examined her and she had mites and have treated her for that. Not sure if that would cause the motion. She walks around and does not seem to be restricted in her movements, just that ever so slight jerky motion. Any ideas anyone? Oh, and her poop is liquidy and white looking. Have not seen any blood yet. I did notice small particles in one of them that looked like little pieces of all bran cereal. Sorry, couldn't think of a better way to describe it.

 

[RussianChickens]

Have you tried deworming her?

I don't know about the twitch. My milli flur did that ever sense she was sick as a chick. Kept the funny head bob for a long time. I don't think its anything to worry about.

 

[7acres]

Thank you. Hopefully it is just a personal movement with her. I just never noticed it with her until recently.

 

[RussianChickens]

That's what I would think. Just watch for worsening 'twitch' or any other strange things that are new. I'd think if it doesn't worsen then it's just her, given my experience with my milli bantam hen.

Other than that examine her feet and legs closely to make sure it isn't a limp. I was just reading about bumble foot so I'd look for that on the bottoms of the feet for that too as that can cause a limp or weird walking.

I don't think your hen has a limp or difficulty walking from what you describe. So your probably all good.

I'm not saying that's what it is or trying to worry you, but its good to know about anyhow I think. Here's the website i was just looking at. You might want it just for a future ref, I'm saving it in my "chicken medical" folder lol

http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2011/07/bumblefoot-causes-treatment-warning.html

 

[7acres]

I checked her feet and she did not have any obvious problems. I did find some hard packed material between one of her toes and cleaned it out but it did not look infected. Thanks for the link. It could prove helpful in the future. I like the idea of the first aid kit. It could save you from running around getting stuff together when you need it. The way I get around some mornings I think I should check myself for bumble foot.

I would have never thought to do the surgery on that. Again, thank you for responding.

 

[RussianChickens]

Yeah no problem, glad I could at least provide you with something helpful even if its not helping the twitch thing.

Isn't it amazing what you can do with a chicken at home! I would have never guessed that either had it not been for happening across that article. I know you can also do crop surgery at home.

I'm going to put together one of those first aid kits specifically for chicken. I have one for horses in the barn and in the bathroom but I should have one geared for chicken in case I ever have to treat anything. There's no bird vets around here for well over 150 + miles so if something happened I'd have to treat it my self.

Best of luck