Something strange is happening with my hen… Updates with video’s attached. Any help and suggestions needed!

[CaliforniaMountainChicks]

As the title states, something strange that I’ve never seen before and can’t find anything about is happening with my hen. At nighttime, and nighttime only, she starts to fall asleep on the roost. After a while she all of a sudden falls off the roost, flaps around on the floor and moves her neck in circular type motions (almost like she’s having a seizure only at night?) for a few seconds and then gets up like nothing happened. She then sleeps on the floor all night because she can’t get back up because it’s too dark. I’ve noticed this weird behavior for maybe 2.5 weeks now? This has also been happening every single night. I’ve only caught it twice while I was out there but she’s been on the floor every night after she was on the roost when I locked up their coop. During the daytime she’s absolutely the picture of health. No weird stumbling, she can jump and land perfectly. She’s active, second in the pecking order, eating, and drinking. I’ve picked her up and inspected her all over and nothing that I can physically feel and see is wrong. I’m at a loss here and like I said, I have never seen anything like this before. Edit: I also forgot to add she’s still laying perfect eggs. Hard shells, good shape, not deformities at all.

Lots of updates are posted throughout the thread, with new videos included!

 

[azygous]

The reasons why a chicken falls off the perch at night can be many, from very simple to complex.

First, the simple issue of untrimmed toe nails can prevent a chicken from being able to curl its toes around the perch and triggering the "lock" position can be responsible. Check her nails and trim them of they are long and curling.

If her nails aren't the cause, she may be weak for some reason, not eating or sick. Observe her behavior for anything that might be "off".

She may have an injury. Check her legs and feet for recent injury. Bumblefoot can affect roosting if the feet are infected and swollen.

 

[CaliforniaMountainChicks]

The reasons why a chicken falls off the perch at night can be many, from very simple to complex.

First, the simple issue of untrimmed toe nails can prevent a chicken from being able to curl its toes around the perch and triggering the "lock" position can be responsible. Check her nails and trim them of they are long and curling.

If her nails aren't the cause, she may be weak for some reason, not eating or sick. Observe her behavior for anything that might be "off".

She may have an injury. Check her legs and feet for recent injury. Bumblefoot can affect roosting if the feet are infected and swollen.

Her nails are nice and short since she scratches all the time. The roosts are 2x4’s faced with the wide side up. She sits perfectly fine when she’s awake on the roost bar. I sat there for an hour last night to see if I could catch her doing it again but she just sat perfectly fine on the roost awake wondering what I was doing there. No bumble foot or injuries to be seen. Her reflexes work fine. I have a ladder going up to the coop and she walks up and down it with zero issues and doesn’t walk off balance or anything. I had a hen who passed a few months back from reproductive issues and I could tell she was physically weak. She’d jump and stumble and use her wing to balance. She’d trip a lot on small things, and just be a little uncoordinated. This hen now doesn’t show any signs of this whatsoever which has me confused why she only does this at night. No crop issues either, it’s full at night, empties in the morning. I feel like if it was somehow a vitamin deficiency she’d be showing signs during the day?

 

[azygous]

This is a tough one. You've ruled out all the obvious stuff. So we're left with the rare causes. She may have a cardio-pulmonary genetic issue causing seizures at night. About the only way to verify that would be a camera going all night to record it if she seizes up, flaps her wings madly, then goes rigid, falling off onto the floor. There may be symptoms such as comb color changes during the day. Watch for the comb tips to go dark then back to normal from time to time. If this is the cause, there isn't anything you can do about it.

 

[Shadrach]

As the title states, something strange that I’ve never seen before and can’t find anything about is happening with my hen. At nighttime, and nighttime only, she starts to fall asleep on the roost. After a while she all of a sudden falls off the roost, flaps around on the floor and moves her neck in circular type motions (almost like she’s having a seizure only at night?) for a few seconds and then gets up like nothing happened. She then sleeps on the floor all night because she can’t get back up because it’s too dark. I’ve noticed this weird behavior for maybe 3-4 weeks now? This has also been happening every single night. I’ve only caught it twice while I was out there but she’s been on the floor every night after she was on the roost when I locked up their coop. During the daytime she’s absolutely the picture of health. No weird stumbling, she can jump and land perfectly. She’s active, second in the pecking order, eating, and drinking. I’ve picked her up and inspected her all over and nothing that I can physically feel and see is wrong. I’m at a loss here and like I said, I have never seen anything like this before. Edit: I also forgot to add she’s still laying perfect eggs. Hard shells, good shape, not deformities at all.

Reads very much like what happened to Barking Bracket.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/nuerological-or-something-else.1318208/

 

[CaliforniaMountainChicks]

This is a tough one. You've ruled out all the obvious stuff. So we're left with the rare causes. She may have a cardio-pulmonary genetic issue causing seizures at night. About the only way to verify that would be a camera going all night to record it if she seizes up, flaps her wings madly, then goes rigid, falling off onto the floor. There may be symptoms such as comb color changes during the day. Watch for the comb tips to go dark then back to normal from time to time. If this is the cause, there isn't anything you can do about it.

I do have a camera in my run that I can move into the coop to see what exactly happens when she does it. Every time I caught her she was already flapping sideways on the floor moving her head in odd motions. Then she got up, looked at me and ‘talked’ like normal, looking up at the roost as if she’s wondering how she ended up on the floor. She would walk around looking how to get back up but since it’s dark she didn’t feel comfortable to jump back up. I fear that she’ll break her neck one night by falling off in just the wrong position. I’ll definitely keep an eye on her comb too. This kind of thing can pop up suddenly at 2 years of age without any issues like this in the past? She’s been the picture of health her whole life with no issues besides a minor vent prolapse a year ago.

 

[Shadrach]

I do have a camera in my run that I can move into the coop to see what exactly happens when she does it. Every time I caught her she was already flapping sideways on the floor moving her head in odd motions. Then she got up, looked at me and ‘talked’ like normal, looking up at the roost as if she’s wondering how she ended up on the floor. She would walk around looking how to get back up but since it’s dark she didn’t feel comfortable to jump back up. I fear that she’ll break her neck one night by falling off in just the wrong position. I’ll definitely keep an eye on her comb too. This kind of thing can pop up suddenly as 2 years of age without any issues like this in the past? She’s been the picture of health her whole life with no issues besides a minor vent prolapse a year ago.

Read the thread I linked you to and then post any further questions you may have.

 

[CaliforniaMountainChicks]

Read the thread I linked you to and then post any further questions you may have.

Just finished reading through the thread! This definitely sounds very similar to your hen. I don’t think I’ve noticed her doing the stargazing position though! I’ll have to check on the camera once I put it in the coop or see what she does while resting throughout the day. I work from home so I can check on her as often as I want to… You know what though, now that I recall, she started doing this right after I broke her of being broody for the first time in her life. The first time I saw it I thought she was grumpy and stumbled off the roost trying to find her position again after being broody broken. Now she’s done it every night since with zero other apparent issues.

 

[Shadrach]

Just finished reading through the thread! This definitely sounds very similar to your hen. I don’t think I’ve noticed her doing the stargazing position though! I’ll have to check on the camera once I put it in the coop or see what she does while resting throughout the day. I work from home so I can check on her as often as I want to… You know what though, now that I recall, she started doing this right after I broke her of being broody for the first time in her life. The first time I saw it I thought she was grumpy and stumbled off the roost trying to find her position again after being broody broken. Now she’s done it every night since with zero other apparent issues.

That's why I pointed you to the thread. With Bracket I became convinced it was related to her broodiness. Something just wasn't switching off as it should.

 

[CaliforniaMountainChicks]

That's why I pointed you to the thread. With Bracket I became convinced it was related to her broodiness. Something just wasn't switching off as it should.

It is really odd. I’m going to put the camera in the coop tonight and see what she does before she falls off the roost since I can’t seem to catch her doing it before. Last night she was on the roost for maybe 30 min before I heard a thud when I was locking them up and saw her flapping. I then placed her on the roost again and watched her for that hour and she didn’t do anything, I moved her to the floor so she wouldn’t fall off again.
Here’s some pictures of her I just took today. She’s a gorgeous and really healthy looking hen. She has some type of beak injury near the top of her beak by her comb, I’m assuming it’s from one of her falls.