Strange Head Movement

Kiwibird

Crowing
13 Years
Jan 24, 2008
730
1,951
447
NZ
One of my chickens stretches its head in the air then bends its neck right backwards until its head touches its back. Between us, we have seen it do this four times, all on the same morning. It is about 3 months old, and looks healthy in other ways. What could this be?

My brother had a rooster that used to do this often. He culled it. I don't know if it is significant that his bird was an araucana and mine is unrelated but part araucana.
 
Are there any diseases that I should worry about that involve this strange behaviour?
 
From what I've read on this forum, It might be something called Star Gazing... caused by a lack of B vitamins.

Try putting a bit of yeast in her food until it gets better.

Or try googling Star Gazing and chickens.
 
Oops, I had given up looking by the time you replied. Thanks so much for this. I no longer have the bird, but a friend now has one which does this, so we will try it.
 
Yeast is not a good thing to feed a chicken. Sorry. It's been associated with sour crops.

Stargazing is a vitamin deficiencey. Give 2 or 3 drops of a liquid baby vitamin. Get a formula without added iron.

She also might have gapeworm. She will need to be wormed if that is the problem. I know what to use here in the U.S. but not sure what you have there as wormers. Check your feed store or vet.
 

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