Star Gazing?

[LCARTER87]

I have a buff cochin who recently when I have gone to check on her at night has been doing some odd movements with her neck.Last night I found a thread that made me feel like she may be 'star gazing?'

-She is a year and a half, the only issues I have ever had with her is a slight respiratory issue where she was sneezing and had some nasal discharge. She still eats regulary, literally just got done laying me an eggs, runs around with the other girls ect

-I only started noticing this about a week ago that she is doing the neck movements, sometimes she will also scratch her eyes/head.

-She has clear eyes, no nasal discharge unless sneezing, she is pooping normal. It seems like the feathers around her comb are slightly sheding possible from her rubbing them against her body while doing the odd neck movements.

I have attached two photos I just took of her. Does this look like star gazing? I can take her to our local vet but from threads that I have read if it appears to be star gazing I will just provide her with the proper medicine.

The heat seems to be getting to her more as of lately as well, but she is a big bird and is covered in head to toe literally in her feathers!

Any imput would be really appreciated. None of my other girls are showing the same symptoms

 

[Twistedfeather]

StarGazing or Congenital loco is a disease in young chicks that causes the nervous system of chicks and poults to bend their heads so far back that their beak points straight towards the sky. It acts like muscle spasms that pull the bird back and tips it over. After a few days of flopping the bird will die from lack of food and water. You don't get too many of them since your commercial hatcheries dispose of them Some studies point to this to be a defect in the ear structure. (Kind of like rabbits and wry neck huh?) I've heard cases where it's only lasted ten days and moved on with it's life as if nothing happened.

But....... this is a chicken not a chick and the condition is rare with chicks so...... It's most likely a nervous system condition. This won't spread to others and the only treatment if this is the case is to cull. You might need to double check with a local avian vet.

 

[dawg53]

Stargazing can be caused by thiamine deficiency in the diet.
http://ultimatefowl.com/wiki/index.php?title=Thiamine_Deficiency
Avian Super Pack will correct thiamine deficiency. Dosage is 1/4 teaspoon per gallon of water for 5 days. Make it fresh daily.

 

[LCARTER87]

Dawg53 do you think its possible for her to have stargazing? I can order this and would gladly give this to her

 

[Eggcessive]

She definitely has wry neck, star gazing, or opisthonotos, which can be due to brain inflammation from a head injury, a vitamin deficiency, or from certain diseases. Vitamin B1 (thiamine,) E, and selenium are the most important ones to give. Poultry Nutri-Drench, Poultry Cell vitamins, as well as other vitamins for poultry contain these (although some others do not have selenium.) Selenium is found in eggs, canned tuna, sunflower seeds, and ground Brazil nuts. I believe Michael Apple has recently said that Avian Super pack dosage is 1/4 tsp per 5 gallons of water, rather than 1/4 tsp per gallon, after checking with the supplier. Here is some reading:
http://www.merckmanuals.com/vet/pou..._poultry/vitamin_deficiencies_in_poultry.html
http://www.browneggblueegg.com/Article/Crookneck/Crookneck.html
http://oureggbasket.blogspot.com/2013/04/wry-neck-or-crook-neck-understanding-it.html
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/97121/lets-talk-wry-neck-crook-neck

 

[Eggcessive]

After double checking the dosage of Avian Super Pack, I'm very confused about the dosage. Dawg is probably right about the dosage of 1/4 tsp per gallon of water. I just calculated the dosage at 4 Gm per gallon, which is close to 1/4 tsp, so I would use that dosage. Converting grams to teaspoonsful can be tricky because powders can have different weight. Sorry for the misinformation above in post 5. Here are instructions that the manufacturer has: http://www.asp-inc.com/products/documents/prodinfo/a/aviansp.pdf

 

[LCARTER87]

Thank you so much! I am going to order some right now I dont think our local spot has this in stock unfortunatly. I will seperate her and keep her inside with the medicine. I really appreciate the help she is a young bird I would hate to think culling is the only option

 

[pdirt]

Thank you so much! I am going to order some right now I dont think our local spot has this in stock unfortunatly. I will seperate her and keep her inside with the medicine. I really appreciate the help she is a young bird I would hate to think culling is the only option

How did your stargazer turn out? Did the vitamin supplement help?