Silkie thread!

[howfunkyisurchicken]

My Silkie rooster has done that same, weird head banging thing for years. He started it a few days after I brought him home, while establishing his place in the flock he took a pretty hard peck to the head from an older hen. Then the head wobbling started. I've supplemented him with vitamin E and selenium in the past, and while it did help, it never completely resolved the situation. He still does it, not as pronounced as before, but I still notice it every now and then.
Other than looking odd, its never really affected him an any other way. He still mates with and protects his hens, he just gets in his own little groove for a bit and has to rock out until it passes.
The head wobbling seems to be more of an issue with birds that have a vaulted skull (where the skull doesn't completely close, leaving the brain exposed under the skin and feathers). Polish and Silkies commonly have vaults.

Good luck with him, my boy is going on 6 years old. So, theres hope for him!

 

[MESOFRUFFEH]

My Silkie rooster has done that same, weird head banging thing for years. He started it a few days after I brought him home, while establishing his place in the flock he took a pretty hard peck to the head from an older hen. Then the head wobbling started. I've supplemented him with vitamin E and selenium in the past, and while it did help, it never completely resolved the situation. He still does it, not as pronounced as before, but I still notice it every now and then.
Other than looking odd, its never really affected him an any other way. He still mates with and protects his hens, he just gets in his own little groove for a bit and has to rock out until it passes.
The head wobbling seems to be more of an issue with birds that have a vaulted skull (where the skull doesn't completely close, leaving the brain exposed under the skin and feathers). Polish and Silkies commonly have vaults.

Good luck with him, my boy is going on 6 years old. So, theres hope for him!

Ok good! I was starting to worry because a few people whose posts I read said their chickens died after they started shaking their heads, and while they didnt have a very detailed description of what this head shaking looked like, it still kinda freaked me out just in case it was something contagious etc that I needed to be on the look out for. Although I'm not sure what contagious diseases could make a chicken shake its head.... but I learn something new every day so just wanted to be on the safe side. I just started noticing it last night and this chick with the head problem is definitely the larger more dominant chick and these two have been housed by their selves since I got them, so the chances of him being pecked hard by someone else is pretty low, and I haven't dropped them or anything, so I didn't think he was injured, but that is not for certain. I hope he will be okay!!

Also, I literally laughed out loud when I read the line about him getting in his own groove and rocking out lol!! That is definitely what it looks like, like he is trying to do the night at the roxbury head bob!

 

[cvamoca]

Ok good! I was starting to worry because a few people whose posts I read said their chickens died after they started shaking their heads, and while they didnt have a very detailed description of what this head shaking looked like, it still kinda freaked me out just in case it was something contagious etc that I needed to be on the look out for. Although I'm not sure what contagious diseases could make a chicken shake its head.... but I learn something new every day so just wanted to be on the safe side. I just started noticing it last night and this chick with the head problem is definitely the larger more dominant chick and these two have been housed by their selves since I got them, so the chances of him being pecked hard by someone else is pretty low, and I haven't dropped them or anything, so I didn't think he was injured, but that is not for certain. I hope he will be okay!!

Also, I literally laughed out loud when I read the line about him getting in his own groove and rocking out lol!! That is definitely what it looks like, like he is trying to do the night at the roxbury head bob!

Me too!
I also wondered if he was a vaulted skull bird...

 

[cvamoca]

Me too!
I also wondered if he was a vaulted skull bird...

Ok good! I was starting to worry because a few people whose posts I read said their chickens died after they started shaking their heads, and while they didnt have a very detailed description of what this head shaking looked like, it still kinda freaked me out just in case it was something contagious etc that I needed to be on the look out for. Although I'm not sure what contagious diseases could make a chicken shake its head.... but I learn something new every day so just wanted to be on the safe side. I just started noticing it last night and this chick with the head problem is definitely the larger more dominant chick and these two have been housed by their selves since I got them, so the chances of him being pecked hard by someone else is pretty low, and I haven't dropped them or anything, so I didn't think he was injured, but that is not for certain. I hope he will be okay!!

Also, I literally laughed out loud when I read the line about him getting in his own groove and rocking out lol!! That is definitely what it looks like, like he is trying to do the night at the roxbury head bob!

Chronic Respiratory disease- Mycoplasma G, Coryza and IB will all cause head shaking, generally not death though.

 

[MESOFRUFFEH]

Chronic Respiratory disease- Mycoplasma G, Coryza and IB will all cause head shaking, generally not death though.

now is this like head shaking like how they shake when they have something on their beak they want off, or more like a "bobbing" side to side groovy shake? Should I separate him? It is only him and my other silkie caged together currently and they are in my living room and have not really been exposed to any of the other chicks, save for one that I placed in their cage the other day because I had carried him to the house and needed to "store" him momentarily to do something. Come to think of it, he could have very well gotten pecked in the head at that time. I had forgotten about that. But as a whole my flock is extremely healthy and we are disease free to my knowledge, although I know that probably doesn't mean much since symptoms can hide for some time before rearing their ugly heads. I will try to research those and see if I can find any info about the head shaking and compare it to what we have going on right now.

 

[cvamoca]

It's usually just a light shake, not bobbing, more like they have a "tic". If he's separated just keep him separated and watch him. Just in case it is something contagious, I'd always do him last after all others have been fed, etc. Sounds like he could have taken a bad peck- apparently those vaulted skulls are tricky things.

 

[MESOFRUFFEH]

I just found this video.... this chick is doing exactly what mine does.... I am hoping its just something that causes him to bob his head and nothing more, I would hate to lose him. He is hopelessly in love with the other chick that is in the cage with him and will do ANYTHING, literally, ANYTHING to get to her, so I hate to separate the two of them, but I guess if it is something contagious, he has probably already given it to the other chick?

i really hope he is going to be okay

 

[cvamoca]

I think that might either be a "Silkie-ism," or sometimes a normal chicken will do that back and forth head thing like they are adjusting something in their crop. I've had just regular birds do it- if it's not all the time but just occasionally, I think it's likely ok.

One of my Marans did something similar when he was young, and sometimes he walked weirdly too- like a horse doing the Spanish Walk. But he grew out of it once he was out on pasture and able to run and do chicken things like chase girls. Learned how to use his legs right really fast!

 

[MESOFRUFFEH]

I think that might either be a "Silkie-ism," or sometimes a normal chicken will do that back and forth head thing like they are adjusting something in their crop. I've had just regular birds do it- if it's not all the time but just occasionally, I think it's likely ok.

One of my Marans did something similar when he was young, and sometimes he walked weirdly too- like a horse doing the Spanish Walk. But he grew out of it once he was out on pasture and able to run and do chicken things like chase girls. Learned how to use his legs right really fast!

Mine is definitely doing it with more frequency than the guy in that video, and it just seems so odd, and I had not seen him do it before last night so it worried me. I'm really wondering if that other chick gave him a head shot and I didn't see it. I'm by far no expert but I have been around a lot of chickens my whole life and have never seen anyone do like he is doing. I am going to hope that it is just something temporary, or at least not life threatening. It really is quite adorable, yet worrying at the same time. The fact that silkies keep popping up in everything I read about it is starting to make me worry less, like you said, maybe it's just a "Silkie-ism" lol. But the way he was drinking last night was the weirdest thing I'd ever seen, and it really seemed to be causing him some issue. I might give them a poultry nipple waterer and see if that helps, I have been making them like crazy out of powerade bottles, best thing since sliced bread!

I have some Sav-A-Chick and I think tonight I might mix some up and fill up their water with it, as well as my new chicks. That way if it does turn out to be an illness, maybe we will can get a leg up on it.

Thanks for all the input!!!!!!

 

[chicken pickin]

Its likely neurological. I have seen this in Silkies when they get a hard swift peck to the head. I have a juvenile that has a pretty bad bobble, on occasion when he takes a drink of water and lifts his head up, his head falls back and lays on his back. He will stay like that for quite a few seconds and then he is able to lift it back up. He wasn't always like that, I think an older hen of another breed jumped the fence once and got him good. I do my best to keep my Silkies separate from the other breeds, just incase things like this could happen. Im hoping next spring to have a fully enclosed Silkie pen.