Rooster behavior quirk or illness - please advise

[aoxa]

For some time now one of my roosters has been sporadically wagging his head back and forth almost like he is trying to shake water out of his ears. I'm new to chickens and don't know if this is normal or a sign of a serious illness...

A few days ago I saw a second rooster do a similar head wagging move and now I'm really not sure if I should be concerned or if this is a normal rooster thing...

Can anyone advise me to why my boys are doing this?

I've had this happen with genetics. Had a rooster who did it all his life and now his son does it, and has since early on. I am not breeding his son, and it's not parasites or infection either - as that would spread.

It CAN be parasites and infection, but it also can be genetics.

 

[chooks4life]

The plan sounds good, it would be great to hear how it goes. Plenty of folks have your issue so it will help someone for sure.

I would trim the chook's hairdos into a mohawk when I had chooks like that, so they could see better and avoid it. But getting in more birds is also an option. Perhaps your rooster will also be acting more roosterly by then and the hens will come to appreciate him more. I've had many a henpecked teenage male transfer overnight into trusted and valued provider and partner of hens just by being so obviously devoted to his duties. Experienced hens know what a good mate is when they see one, lol.

Best wishes.

 

[MoreHens]

I've had 3 roosters (Jersey Giant, Orpington and Barred Rock). They all started wagging their heads when they hit sexual maturity. None of my 40 hens shook their heads, suggesting it was a rooster thing, not an illness. I would be curious to hear from other long time rooster owners about this.

 

[Silvester]

I bought all of my birds in spring 2013 and they only started doing it in the past month or so...

I need to try to tackle them tomorrow morning and give them a look over, the top roo seemed not quite myself this morning - a bit sluggish in my opinion.

 

[chooks4life]

I've had 3 roosters (Jersey Giant, Orpington and Barred Rock). They all started wagging their heads when they hit sexual maturity. None of my 40 hens shook their heads, suggesting it was a rooster thing, not an illness. I would be curious to hear from other long time rooster owners about this.

I've kept hundreds of roosters from many genetic lines and never seen this head wagging, nor in the hens. Were all your roosters from the same hatchery?

It's entirely possible too that as with some lines of females being predisposed to internal laying, which arguably would never happen unless they hit puberty, some lines of males are predisposed to a semi-epileptic/spasmodic issue caused by their sex hormones.

We have documented family trees of quail that have spasmodic head movement issues which are heritable, so this isn't as far fetched as it may seem. Chickens and all other fowl can of course suffer from the same heritable issues.

 

[Silvester]

I got all of my chickens from the same Tractor Supply at the same time, but after that I couldn't say.

 

[chooks4life]

Well, I don't know for sure, but it's not something that applies to all roosters so it's a pretty sure bet there's a genetic basis for it. Personally I would view it with suspicion but that's just me and relates to my experience.

It may not be a real problem at all. And there's also problems that don't cause any significant/noticeable issues, like that quail thing...

While I personally wouldn't breed birds who have a genetic predisposition to a spasm that pulls their heads under their bodies or over their backs and cause them to run backwards a couple of times per week/day/hour/whatever, the people who do breed them said there was no other issues with them, so they didn't breed the spasm out. Each to their own.

Best wishes to all.

 

[rojororeo]

Hello all! Reviving the thread a bit...
I was the one in it with the Polish rooster who gets his crest pecked regularly by his hens... then he started a wattle shake when he would drink. I thought it was due to the super cold weather and water freezing his comb... I am now coming back to say I was wrong.. you guys were right... I think, he has something wrong with him.
In the past few weeks he has been staggering here and there when he shakes. Doesn't ever fall to the ground, but when he does the typical rooster/chicken shake he seems to lose his balance and stagger.
Those of you familiar with these things... is this something that will get worse? I have no plans on him ever being a baby daddy, as I don't want Polish crosses. But as a simple guardian rooster just living off the man and having fun, will I have any future issues that you know of which would bring about culling?
I feel like I am noticing slightly different behavior in how he interacts which his hens as well, but not sure if I am imagining it. He seems a bit more aggressive at times, but could that also being coming into full maturity as he is right at a year old now.
Anyhoo, just felt I should give an update for informational purposes, and wanted a quick take on your guys' thoughts for his future.
Thanks!

 

[kathytales]

Kathy here. This is interesting about the wattle-rattling, spasming rooster... I gave my pecked-headed Polish to a friend to see if her hens would leave him alone. The speckled sussex did but the others... Anyway, she had him in a cage so he could get used to her crowd and a rooster came by and must have said something horrible because my roosty fell down dead! My friend gave artificial respiration and mouth to mouth and he came back and seems no different, except happy to be back with me. (I think he is just sensitive and he fainted)
He is a friendly fellow and so easy to pick up. He comes in the mudroom every time I open the back door. I think I've found a turban hat that stays on well with just a rubberband and hardly needs upkeep like the glued one did. I was so tired of having my fingers covered with super glue!
If there was any gap in the hat or if it slipped slightly, the hens were on it, and they don't care what length the feathers are. It has occurred to me to just let him go bald as he doesn't seem to care as much as I do.

 

[rojororeo]

Kathy here. This is interesting about the wattle-rattling, spasming rooster... I gave my pecked-headed Polish to a friend to see if her hens would leave him alone. The speckled sussex did but the others... Anyway, she had him in a cage so he could get used to her crowd and a rooster came by and must have said something horrible because my roosty fell down dead! My friend gave artificial respiration and mouth to mouth and he came back and seems no different, except happy to be back with me. (I think he is just sensitive and he fainted)
He is a friendly fellow and so easy to pick up. He comes in the mudroom every time I open the back door. I think I've found a turban hat that stays on well with just a rubberband and hardly needs upkeep like the glued one did. I was so tired of having my fingers covered with super glue!
If there was any gap in the hat or if it slipped slightly, the hens were on it, and they don't care what length the feathers are. It has occurred to me to just let him go bald as he doesn't seem to care as much as I do.

Holy crud!! You were serious on the turban head! lol I have been considering and half joking about making my boy change religions as well.. but hadn't gotten to the specifics of how to keep it attached... A turban specifically I hadn't thought of... Considered a yarmulke... but figured he would pull the neck string off. Then thought maybe a party hat- the girls could take turns pulling the fun strings?! lol
Could I have the specifics on how you rubberbanded that on? I have a Polish hen that came to me from the same 'peck the pretty feathers off the oddball house,' and I made her 2 pony tails with the outside feathers of her crest, and that worked wonders... but he doesn't have any real outer crest feathers, so I can't really do that to him... I have a feeling you are going to tell me you used crest feathers as well.. lol
I concur with you on the rooster not stopping it, so why should I! lol But I hate that he is bald, and sometimes bleeding, and not living up to his full beauty potential! Next he will be wearing slippers and pjs' to Walmart! lol
I have been thinking of taking a small sock and cutting a head hole in it, and putting that on him to protect his head, until I can get a place for him to be separate. My boy isn't super human social, so everything I do, I catch him off the roost morning or night and do to him. Love that he goes in the house with you.
Love you story on the other rooster almost killing him, you have an awesome sense of humor... did that really happen like that?! As in he did faint, but then was fine? Too crazy!