Strange Neck Motion in Silkie Hen

[Kingbobkingdom]

Hi, sorry I only have a photo - whenever I go outside, the chicken stops. I'm working on getting a video on YouTube.

I haven't seen anything like it before, and right now she seems to be normal and is eating. She was huddled on the ground with her head thrown back so that it was resting on her backside and the bottom of her face was up. Sort of similar to the dinosaur fossils. Her neck was moving side to side, like a windshield wiper, and I have no clue how long she was doing this as I was in another part of the house. Once I got outside, I looked at her for a few seconds and then went inside to get my phone. She was pretty quiet, and her eyelids were blinking. Just when I tried to take a photo, she made a soft clucking sound, like a normal chicken, and then got up and went to eat some apples I've thrown out. Then she went and joined the other chicken.

A few minutes later, she was doing it again. I went outside and she stopped. And then again.

Should I inspect her neck area for anything? I'm thinking of wry neck.

2 years, 4 months. Laying. Currently making confused sounds. No head injury that I know of. Walking slowly but balanced. We tell the pesticide people to avoid the backyard. Other chicken seems fine. Does Tractor Supply have vitamins that I can get?

 

[Kingbobkingdom]

 

[Kingbobkingdom]

*I originally posted this in Behaviors and Egg laying, but the more I research this, the more it seems like an injury or disease*

I haven't seen anything like it before, and right now she seems to be normal and is eating. She was huddled on the ground with her head thrown back so that it was resting on her backside and the bottom of her face was up. Sort of similar to the dinosaur fossils. Her neck was moving side to side, like a windshield wiper, and I have no clue how long she was doing this as I was in another part of the house. Once I got outside, I looked at her for a few seconds and then went inside to get my phone. She was pretty quiet, and her eyelids were blinking. Just when I tried to take a photo, she made a soft clucking sound, like a normal chicken, and then got up and went to eat some apples I've thrown out. Then she went and joined the other chicken.

A few minutes later, she was doing it again. I went outside and she stopped. And then again.

Should I inspect her neck area for anything? I'm thinking of wry neck.

2 years, 4 months. Laying. Currently making confused sounds. No head injury that I know of. Walking slowly but balanced. We tell the pesticide people to avoid the backyard. Other chicken seems fine. Does Tractor Supply have vitamins that I can get?

 

[GoosesGeeses]

@Eggcessive @Wyorp Rock @Debbie292d

 

[nuthatched]

You can get rooster booster etc from feed store or just get b complex tablets from the grocery store, easier and cheaper.

 

[Kingbobkingdom]

I crushed 2 vitamin b complex tablets, mixed the powder in water, and spoon fed it to her. I'm not sure how much she got down and will try again before nightfall.

 

[Kingbobkingdom]

Didn't manage to feed her again like I intended. We'll see how she is in the morning.

 

[Debbie292d]

That's neurological. She needs 400 IU of Vitamin E, and some scrambled eggs for the amt of selenium she'd need to help the E absorb. You can continue the B-complex but two tablets is way too much. If that's a human B-complex, she needs about 1/2 of one of them.

 

[Eggcessive]

I agree, it looks neurological. It could be seizure activity or wry neck, but since she seems normal between episodes it points to seizures. It may be from a head injury, vitamin E or B1 thiamine deficiency, or some condition that affects the brain. Give the E, B complex, and egg for selenium as Debbie suggests, and make sure that she can eat and drink.

 

[Kingbobkingdom]

What intervals would you suggest for administrating the vitamin B? Should I leave out the eggs with vitamin E with her feed?