Silkie hen has odd tick?

[FowlLove]

Hello everyone! I have noticed that ever since my silkie hen went broody (she stopped about 3 weeks ago), she sometimes has this weird tick where she sort of tucks her head under herself, shakes her head, backs up/tumbles over, and then seems to snap out of it within a few seconds or if I (gently) pull her head out from under her. It seems to only be triggered when I pick her up or she gets upset in some way. I initially didn't worry too much when she was sitting as I thought maybe she was trying to push the eggs under her, but that is obviously not the case. I am reading on other threads that it could be from some kind of brain damage? She did lose quite a bit of weight after being broody. I think if I wouldn't have regularly spoon fed her she would have starved herself. But would going broody have been THAT hard on her that she got brain damage? I hope not! Any thoughts?

 

[Neggative]

dont get silkies

 

[FowlLove]

dont get silkies

What? Lol.

 

[Eggcessive]

I would start her on some Poultry Cell, Poultry NutriDrench 1 ml daily by mouth, or some other good chick vitamins that have vitamin E and Thiamine. You could also instead use 400 IU of vitamin E with a little cooked egg daily. It sounds like a little neurological problem, similar to wry neck, and it can be due to vitamin deficiency in some cases.

 

[Neggative]

actually ive never had silkies but there always! seems to be at least one thread on here with something wrong with them... ime a rhode island red fan....

 

[FowlLove]

I would start her on some Poultry Cell, Poultry NutriDrench 1 ml daily by mouth, or some other good chick vitamins that have vitamin E and Thiamine. You could also instead use 400 IU of vitamin E with a little cooked egg daily. It sounds like a little neurological problem, similar to wry neck, and it can be due to vitamin deficiency in some cases.

Thank you this is really helpful! I’m going to giver her some scrambled eggs and rooster booster today and for a while from now on and see if that helps.

 

[FowlLove]

actually ive never had silkies but there always! seems to be at least one thread on here with something wrong with them... ime a rhode island red fan....

Hmm that’s probably true enough. They are just too sweet though! I also have Rhode Island reds, I agree they are a great breed.

 

[ChelseasChicks]

I had a silkie do this exact thing. We almost lost her. I ordered poly-vi-sol WITHOUT IRON (bc I couldn’t find it without iron ANYWHERE) and after one dose with a dropper, she snapped out of it. It’s a vitamin deficiency that causes Wry Neck! Hope this helps. I had tried everything nutri-drench, save-a-chick, etc.

 

[chickens really]

I have Silkies and during broodiness I feed chick starter and remove them every two days to get off the nest to eat, drink and Poop. They do fantastic if forced up once in awhile.

 

[humblehillsfarm]

I can't speak for silkies, but for my hen I pulled her off the nest, twice a day, to get food, water, a dust bath, and to relieve herself. This won't hurt the eggs. On day 18 and 19 I removed her once in the morning, then I provided food and water close to her, and then after that I let her be. I've heard others say their hens regularly leave the nest for 10-30 minutes at a time, but my broody just didn't leave the nest so I took matters into my own hands. The upside to this, while she was in full on murder mama mode when my boyfriend approaches her babies, she just gets all clucky and fluffy with me, maybe one soft peck, but otherwise she lets me handle her and her babies without issues.