Something is irritating my hens head

[Wyorp Rock]

Thanks for the replys. She is nearly 3. She isn't molting and I don't have a rooster and havnt noticed any bullying amongst the girls. She has just gone broody so I now have her isolated in a DE free environment. I had a look inside her ears but will give them another look soon. She doesn't have any neck issues while she is sitting. I've started to feed her thiamin and vit e rich foods and added some b vitamin crushed into her food. Havnt been able to get vit e tablet yet. Hopefully she will improve.

Can you post some photos of her?

 

[Kerrie07]

Can you post some photos of her?

A photo of her head?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

A photo of her head?

Yes, please. The head and of course the whole hen too. (we love chicken photos here)

 

[Kerrie07]

Yes, please. The head and of course the whole hen too. (we love chicken photos here)

 

[Kerrie07]

Omg I'm a massive tech cripple so I can't believe I managed to get a video up. Woo!!!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Omg I'm a massive tech cripple so I can't believe I managed to get a video up. Woo!!!

Kerrie you did it! Nice girls!

Is she molting? Gently pick her up and inspect her for new growth.
I would give her a direct dose of poultry vitamins for 3 days. Poultry Nutri-Drench or Poultry Cell will work fine - 1cc per 3 pounds of weight.

Her crop is quite big. Check her crop at night when she goes to roost, then the very first thing in the morning before she eats/drinks. The crop should be empty in the morning.

Can you also take a look at her legs? It's always so hard to tell in a video or sometimes photos. Look at the scales to see if they are raised which would indicate Scaly Leg Mites.
Sometimes legs just look dry too.
She's spurred! Not that uncommon, but watch to see if her spurs are too long and bothering her, they may need a little trim.

 

[Shadrach]

There seems to be a lot of this about.
There was another thread recently about similar symptoms.
This was my post.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/hen-with-suspected-neurological-damage.1282195/
Unfortunately symptoms such as you describe which are near identical to the symptoms my hen has and the hen in the post I can't find, are not going to be cured by crop checks, trimming spurs, or nutridrench and moulting won't produce such symptoms either.
It would seem that this type of behavior falls under the broad heading of wry neck as mentioned by Eggcessive in post 3.
I have tried the vitamin E and selenium treatment and it hasn't made the slightest difference. I've been to the vet and contacted two others I have found in the UK who specialize in fowl and the general consensus appears to be the problem is neurological and there is no treatment. The other possibility that gets mentioned is Mareks disease which I haven't ruled out.
Apart from these backwards walking, head weaving fits my hen seems very healthy.
If you read the above thread I started there are some worthwhile links provided by Eggsesive; it was the treatment schedule in one of these links I followed with the hen here.
I've come to the end of the line with the hen here and have accepted that while there are drugs on the market that may help, the expense and associated health risks are just not worth it for an otherwise healthy hen.

 

[Cryss]

Her crop is quite big. Check her crop at night when she goes to roost, then the very first thing in the morning before she eats/drinks. The crop should be empty in the morning.

DITTO! Her crop is huge. Maybe check for impaction. It might be a factor in this.