Rooster head injury now having seizures! Supplement ideas?

[rosalie53]

So my two year old RIR rooster fell off his roosting shelf in his coop a couple weeks ago, from a deep sleep, and experienced some kind of head trauma (I watched the whole thing on the Ring camera). And now he is having frequent seizures, about one every 3-5 min. We took him to the vet, and X-rays revealed nothing. Doc sent us home with steroids (!) and gabapentin.

My boy is acting okay otherwise…he is eating, drinking, crowing, pooping, dust bathing, wooing the girls (but cannot mate due to seizures and lack of coordination). He is slightly more subdued, stands around a lot versus patrolling the yard as he would normally do prior to his fall. I now monitor his daily activity and keep him separated when needed, and at night he is in a large, padded safe crate with food and water.

The vet said he would research anti seizures meds, but there isn’t a lot of information out there for poultry.

I’m wondering if we can try various herbal formulations, or stands-alones, that are used for dogs and cats with seizures such as; blue vervain, passionflower, valarian, ashwaganda, bacopa, tryptophan, chamomile, skullcap, St. John’s wort, hemp oil…and of these are safe for chickens.

If anyone has experiences or thoughts on these, please let me know. Thank you!

I have had success with gabapentin on my rooster who has neurological damage. His foot jerks every few seconds at night timeI have had success with gabapentin on my rooster who has neurological damage. His foot jerks every few seconds at night time. The gabapentin has stopped this.

 

[Spoiledchooks]

How is your boy doing? I'm sorry to hear about his head trauma!

I am not familiar in treating poultry seizures, but am familiar in the human and dog world, so I hesitate to suggest any treatment for your rooster that I haven't vetted with my chickens myself.

With that disclaimer, plus please make sure it is allowed where you live, I know in the human/mammalian side of things, hemp-derived products that target the endocannabinoid system have had good results in helping reduce seizures. I doubt you will find much information on dosages and such, and there's no guarantee it will help, but I have found some studies that have examined the use of these types of products on chickens and other birds with no negative effects, so I'm not suggesting it, but it might be something I'd try.

https://intapi.sciendo.com/pdf/10.2478/aspr-2023-0024#:~:text=Recent studies have found a,lipid metabolism [Zhou et al.

https://avmajournals.avma.org/view/journals/ajvr/84/4/ajvr.22.11.0197.xml

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30588604/

Please keep us updated with how he's doing.

my boy gets cannabis daily for his wobbles!! Started at 10 weeks old.. he turned 2 April 18th
If he doesn’t get his dose he’s got the shakes like Parkinson’s. Once dosed he does really well.

 

[Jener8or]

my boy gets cannabis daily for his wobbles!! Started at 10 weeks old.. he turned 2 April 18th
If he doesn’t get his dose he’s got the shakes like Parkinson’s. Once dosed he does really well.

Wow, I'm glad you found something that helps him! Thanks for sharing, I wish him the best!

 

[Spoiledchooks]

So my two year old RIR rooster fell off his roosting shelf in his coop a couple weeks ago, from a deep sleep, and experienced some kind of head trauma (I watched the whole thing on the Ring camera). And now he is having frequent seizures, about one every 3-5 min. We took him to the vet, and X-rays revealed nothing. Doc sent us home with steroids (!) and gabapentin.

My boy is acting okay otherwise…he is eating, drinking, crowing, pooping, dust bathing, wooing the girls (but cannot mate due to seizures and lack of coordination). He is slightly more subdued, stands around a lot versus patrolling the yard as he would normally do prior to his fall. I now monitor his daily activity and keep him separated when needed, and at night he is in a large, padded safe crate with food and water.

The vet said he would research anti seizures meds, but there isn’t a lot of information out there for poultry.

I’m wondering if we can try various herbal formulations, or stands-alones, that are used for dogs and cats with seizures such as; blue vervain, passionflower, valarian, ashwaganda, bacopa, tryptophan, chamomile, skullcap, St. John’s wort, hemp oil…and of these are safe for chickens.

If anyone has experiences or thoughts on these, please let me know. Thank you!

CBD is the best thing for seizures

 

[Jhura]

So we hit the one year mark with this guy, can you believe it? He’s so amazing and resilient. He LOVES his girls so much! I will tell you he’s still wobbly and when his skin acts up, which could be an immune thing from the Mareks/ALV, his seizures get worse. So I’ve been using a spray disinfectant medication for ringworm on his comb, which has been helping.

We also do turmeric, Boswellia, B Complex, vitamin E, fish oil, lycopene, and digestive enzymes, all dosed for his weight of course. And it’s not every day just a few times a week. The CBD really helps as well. He’s also getting fresh eggs, blueberries, peas, and any other protein we have left from dinner. He’s also getting red light therapy! He loves this it’s very relaxing to him.

But we noticed lately he’s getting very tired, he just stands around and pecks with his girls. Even when one of my young roosters jumps in the yard, he barely chases him because he doesn’t have the energy. So we might be nearing the end, I don’t know. He’s definitely molting so I’m sure that’s playing a factor.

All the doctors say, and I’ve seen five already, is that it’s idiopathic from the diseases. Which is just bullshit, it sucks. We do feel very lucky that he’s made it a YEAR on this seizure medication, and we know with all the extra love he gets helped as well, but my teenage boys will be devastated if we lose this kid. He is the best rooster!!!! (We even hatched some of his babies just to see if we could develop subsequent immunity, and so far they’re doing great, they’re just giant assholes lol they had black copper maran moms were skittish…)

 

[Spoiledchooks]

So we hit the one year mark with this guy, can you believe it? He’s so amazing and resilient. He LOVES his girls so much! I will tell you he’s still wobbly and when his skin acts up, which could be an immune thing from the Mareks/ALV, his seizures get worse. So I’ve been using a spray disinfectant medication for ringworm on his comb, which has been helping.

We also do turmeric, Boswellia, B Complex, vitamin E, fish oil, lycopene, and digestive enzymes, all dosed for his weight of course. And it’s not every day just a few times a week. The CBD really helps as well. He’s also getting fresh eggs, blueberries, peas, and any other protein we have left from dinner. He’s also getting red light therapy! He loves this it’s very relaxing to him.

But we noticed lately he’s getting very tired, he just stands around and pecks with his girls. Even when one of my young roosters jumps in the yard, he barely chases him because he doesn’t have the energy. So we might be nearing the end, I don’t know. He’s definitely molting so I’m sure that’s playing a factor.

All the doctors say, and I’ve seen five already, is that it’s idiopathic from the diseases. Which is just bullshit, it sucks. We do feel very lucky that he’s made it a YEAR on this seizure medication, and we know with all the extra love he gets helped as well, but my teenage boys will be devastated if we lose this kid. He is the best rooster!!!! (We even hatched some of his babies just to see if we could develop subsequent immunity, and so far they’re doing great, they’re just giant assholes lol they had black copper maran moms were skittish…)

Jhura try to find an animal chiropractic near you… if your roo fell he probably hurt his neck and getting adjusted may solve his issues

 

[Tweety showgirl]

I dont know if your bird has gotten better but #1 NEVER EVER GIVE BIRDS PREDNISONE. I've been through this before with birds and gabpentin/ phenobarbital is the best thing but once on it they are on it for life. You cannot just stop a barbituate ..it actually will cause seizures and death in animals and humans. Ivermectin is also kept ow to sometimes help with seizure activity and make anti seizure meds last longer. That is why you combined phenobarbital and gabpentin. The gabpentin makes the phenobarbital more effective and you dont need as much doses to control seizures. I also would recommend not only getting a different vet seeing you should never give prednisone to birds..that is an old time practice that is dangerous to the bird. My next step would be get blood work to check for heavy metal poisoning. Lead, and other heavy metals can cause seizures. My bird always had tested negative. I believe it was either due to a head peck because she was a vaulted skilled silkie which exposes the brain to injury or it was some other issues that just was unable to be diagnosed without major expensive testing like a cat-scan. Sometimes Mareks disease and cancers can cause tumors New castle disease can also cause seizures but that usually includes illness which yiur bird doesnt seem to be exhibited. I hope this message may help you or someone in the future. Both of my birds never improved and passed away. But I know other chickens and ducks who have been on phenobarbital/gabpentin that go one to be normal happy birds. The hardest part is getting a vet who is not only knowledgeable but is willing to illegally prescribe the phenobarbital. One thing for yiu is being a rooster there's no egg involvement. Like someone really wants to try to get high on phenobarbital laced chicken eggs. You'd have to eat 30 dozen ..so stupid..thats our tax dollars at work..someone is payed to write these stupid laws. I've had the battle overheating the birth control implant for my chicken as well. Good luck hope all this knowledge I've gathered by spending lots of money finds someone who needs it. Lol

 

[Spoiledchooks]

I dont know if your bird has gotten better but #1 NEVER EVER GIVE BIRDS PREDNISONE. I've been through this before with birds and gabpentin/ phenobarbital is the best thing but once on it they are on it for life. You cannot just stop a barbituate ..it actually will cause seizures and death in animals and humans. Ivermectin is also kept ow to sometimes help with seizure activity and make anti seizure meds last longer. That is why you combined phenobarbital and gabpentin. The gabpentin makes the phenobarbital more effective and you dont need as much doses to control seizures. I also would recommend not only getting a different vet seeing you should never give prednisone to birds..that is an old time practice that is dangerous to the bird. My next step would be get blood work to check for heavy metal poisoning. Lead, and other heavy metals can cause seizures. My bird always had tested negative. I believe it was either due to a head peck because she was a vaulted skilled silkie which exposes the brain to injury or it was some other issues that just was unable to be diagnosed without major expensive testing like a cat-scan. Sometimes Mareks disease and cancers can cause tumors New castle disease can also cause seizures but that usually includes illness which yiur bird doesnt seem to be exhibited. I hope this message may help you or someone in the future. Both of my birds never improved and passed away. But I know other chickens and ducks who have been on phenobarbital/gabpentin that go one to be normal happy birds. The hardest part is getting a vet who is not only knowledgeable but is willing to illegally prescribe the phenobarbital. One thing for yiu is being a rooster there's no egg involvement. Like someone really wants to try to get high on phenobarbital laced chicken eggs. You'd have to eat 30 dozen ..so stupid..thats our tax dollars at work..someone is payed to write these stupid laws. I've had the battle overheating the birth control implant for my chicken as well. Good luck hope all this knowledge I've gathered by spending lots of money finds someone who needs it. Lol

CBD is much better for seizures with no side effects besides sometimes making them more sedate

 

[WhoDatChick]

So my two year old RIR rooster fell off his roosting shelf in his coop a couple weeks ago, from a deep sleep, and experienced some kind of head trauma (I watched the whole thing on the Ring camera). And now he is having frequent seizures, about one every 3-5 min. We took him to the vet, and X-rays revealed nothing. Doc sent us home with steroids (!) and gabapentin.

My boy is acting okay otherwise…he is eating, drinking, crowing, pooping, dust bathing, wooing the girls (but cannot mate due to seizures and lack of coordination). He is slightly more subdued, stands around a lot versus patrolling the yard as he would normally do prior to his fall. I now monitor his daily activity and keep him separated when needed, and at night he is in a large, padded safe crate with food and water.

The vet said he would research anti seizures meds, but there isn’t a lot of information out there for poultry.

I’m wondering if we can try various herbal formulations, or stands-alones, that are used for dogs and cats with seizures such as; blue vervain, passionflower, valarian, ashwaganda, bacopa, tryptophan, chamomile, skullcap, St. John’s wort, hemp oil…and of these are safe for chickens.

If anyone has experiences or thoughts on these, please let me know. Thank you!

Could you post a video of your bird? I am having some issues with my silkie roo… was thinking wry neck but I am not convinced.. to me it does seem like seizures… and his symptoms sound very similar to yours. I am giving vitamin B and E but it is difficult to get him to eat because when I hold him he almost goes into a trance like state… but then snaps out of it for a second to take a few bites of food. It seems as though his depth perception is off also… he is happy out in the yard so I have been letting him be and yesterday I decided to let him sleep in the coop and saw him trying to get to a roost but tumbled down the ladder poor lil guy. Can anyone tell me how to administer CBD???

 

[WhoDatChick]

CBD is much better for seizures with no side effects besides sometimes making them more sedate

See my post