Strange symptoms, please help!

Tiempo

Songster
11 Years
Oct 19, 2008
196
2
128
Stockbridge, MI
Something is wrong with my lovely little Mille OEGB.

She is usually one of the first to settle into the coop each night, I just went out to close up the coop, and she was outside all by herself, pecking away at the ground with her wings drooping and her tail twisted to the side.

When she walks it's as though she is drunk.

Anyone know what could be going on?
 
I'm no expert on disease or anything like that, but the first thing that came to my mind was that it sounded like she might have been hit in the head. Are there any signs of trauma?
 
This is a terrible story, but I hit a black bird in the head one day with a piece of shot. I didn't do it on purpose; I was shooting shot at the trunk of a tree in the yard to make a loud thwaking sound to scare them off because they were over running my place. Well..............this guy was in the wrong place and the wrong time and I hit him. He came fluttering to the ground and I was sure I'd killed him. I cussed myself out, called myself every name I could think of..........mean kid that pulls wings off of flies, on and on, threw the sling shot in the trash and promised I'd never use it again. I went out and looked at the bird and I could see where I'd hit him right in the back of the head. His eyes were going all over the place and looked every bit like he was not long for this world. He was doing some contortions............nothing that looked good believe me, and I even thought if I was a really kind person I'd put him out of his misery, but I couldn't do that. Long story shortened, after a rather long time, the bird got up, stumbled around and eventually flew off in a perfectly straight line and I watch it land on the fence.
What I'm saying to you is, if it is a head injury, your hen just might make a come back. Since there isn't much to worry about in the area of higher functioning, all she needs to do is get her coordination back somewhat. She just might do it, sooner that later.
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Thanks guys!

Thought I'd post an update as it's a good one, the next day Fiona looked quite a bit better and she's pretty back to normal now.

Yay!!!!

I still have no idea what happened.
 
I'm glad she's better.
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You might want to check on her weight, this time of year the birds are molting. It puts a huge strain on them to regrow all those feathers.

For some reason some chickens will loose their appetite during this critical time. Symptoms will include weakness, dizziness and walking sideways or backwards.

Luckily it's easy to fix with a little extra protien. Cat or dog food is a quick fix. Gamebird or meat bird feed takes longer but is also a good help.
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