Rooster is constantly shaking his head

[Olivia or Oliver]

He looks really itchy.

If you suspect an ear infection, clean with a drip of peroxide in the ear from the cotton tip from a Q-Tip, & goop the ears with Triple Antibiotic ointment(Non Pain Relieving).

I have all of the above so I can definitely try this. Thank you.

Does he have any nasal drainage or eye bubbles/drainage? Look for any lice or mites around his head and the rest of his body. Do his eyes appear normal? Have you wormed your chickens recently?

He doesn't have any nasal drainage, at least not that I see. He did have eye bubbles in his left eye maybe a week ago, and he kept scratching that eye. I thought it may be an eye infection so I put tobramycin drops in that eye and it went away after a day or two. His eyes are definitely not normal though. He scratched them out when he had eye worms some months ago, and now both globes are entirely deformed with perforations. Occasionally still scratches them. He is mostly blind, sees just enough to walk around.

I did give a dewormer (1 course of albendazole & 1 course of pranziquantel) maybe 2 weeks ago, because he had a nasty recurrence of tapeworms in his poop.

 

[cfonts]

I don't have any input as to what could be causing Oliver to shake his head, just wanted to let you know that I'm so happy to see an update in Oliver- I think about him often! I hope that you are able to figure out what's causing Oliver to shake his head. He's grown into such a handsome rooster

 

[Stephanie8806]

From what I’ve read in my research of worms online, nome times they can get into their respiratory tract and ears, causing them to shake their head in an attempt to clear the blockages.

Since you mentioned he seems to have recurring problems with a variety of worms, I might look into that?

 

[Olivia or Oliver]

I don't have any input as to what could be causing Oliver to shake his head, just wanted to let you know that I'm so happy to see an update in Oliver- I think about him often! I hope that you are able to figure out what's causing Oliver to shake his head. He's grown into such a handsome rooster

I have sent you a message

From what I’ve read in my research of worms online, nome times they can get into their respiratory tract and ears, causing them to shake their head in an attempt to clear the blockages.

Since you mentioned he seems to have recurring problems with a variety of worms, I might look into that?

Thank you I will look into this as well I honestly don't know how he pooped out worms recently because he is the only chicken I have, and he's blind and has aim issues so he only eats the feed that I give him Chickens are so mysterious

 

[Lizzy733]

I have sent you a message


Thank you I will look into this as well I honestly don't know how he pooped out worms recently because he is the only chicken I have, and he's blind and has aim issues so he only eats the feed that I give him Chickens are so mysterious

Usually it takes two rounds of medication to get them all - one to kill the adults, then another a week or so later to kill the freshly hatched before they can reproduce. Some can develop a resistance to the dewormer and the worms aren't necessarily avian-specific.

There are plenty of ways they could have ended up on him including intermediary hosts like mites or flies, so not necessarily something he's eaten.

Poor boy, sounds like he's been through a lot. I've only ever dealt with intestinal worms; don't even want to think about worms getting into things like the eyes.

Whatever it is, it's annoying him for sure. Hopefully, it will be a quick fix and he can get back to his pampered house-chicken life.

 

[Stephanie8806]

Thank you I will look into this as well I honestly don't know how he pooped out worms recently because he is the only chicken I have, and he's blind and has aim issues so he only eats the feed that I give him Chickens are so mysterious

Well, it can be so hard to tell. If he has any access at all to the outdoors, they can get worms from coming into contact with wild bird feces that’s infested(a lot of it is). There are also a lot of bugs(particularly slugs, snails, and earthworms) that can carry those parasites as well. Chicken eats infected slug, chicken becomes infected.

Rodents also are notorious for carrying worms. I once was told by a pest control person, a rat can fit through an opening the size of a quarter. A mouse can fit through a hole the size of a dime. And even if his enclosure is completely encased with quarter inch hardwire cloth, if one of those rodents crawled on top of the cage, it’s poop could have passed through. Rodents are super attracted to chicken feed.

There also might be the possibility that his coop and run didn’t get 1000% sanitized and he came in contact with a bit of his old infested poop. You never know. It’s soooooo hard to deep clean those things completely.