{Update and its good} Head tilt, dissorentation, seriously cranky bird!

[CuriousChicken]

My roo is currently having head tilt and disorientation problems, he's not lethargic as a mater of fact the disorientation seems to be making him cranky. He's also wiping his head alot, and scratching at the ear he has tilted toward the ground. I'm pretty sure its not wry neck since he gets unsalted roasted peanuts daily, which are rich in selenium, vit E and thiamin. It's not a neck injury, since he woke up with it yesterday morning and I'm pretty sure he didn't hurt himself during the night. He sleeps in a parrot cage next to my bed, if he had made enough commotion to hurt himself that badly I would have heard it.

It could be Mareks, but he's still got a healthy appetite, he's is drinking water, stool looks normal, breathing good, nasal passages clear, clear eyes. He did get in the shower with me the day before the head tilt problems, and we live on a catchment system (please read teaming with bacteria). So I'm treating for an ear infection with peroxide, I'm going to call around today and see about getting him in to see a vet.

Is there anything I'm missing? Other possibilities that I'm not aware of.


EDIT

Thanks for all the information guys. My guess as to what happened is this, our kitty dissapeared and the chicken stopped eating properly. He was eatting but not as much as he should, then he took a bath and got catchment water in his ear which caused the ear infection. The ear infection compounded the eating problem which caused the wry neck. So after much support here we kicked the ear infection with peroxide treatments twice a day for 4 days. Then put him we on no iron Flintstones vitamins 3 days on 1 day off and he seems to be recovered. I'm going to continue the vitamins for another round then I'm going to knock him down to getting dosed once a week as a preventative measure.

 

[ochochicas]

Do you have a history of Marek's in your flock? Really the only thing you can treat for at this point is vitamin deficiency. You can give vitamin B complex in addition to prednisone if you have some on hand.

 

[CuriousChicken]

It's just the one Roo, he has extremely limited access to other birds. There's only one other chicken he socializes with, no history of Marek's that I know of. If I crush one of my B complex tablets and sprinkle a little over his food or in his water do you think that would be sufficient? Or do I need to seek out specially dosed Chicken vitamins? And sadly no prednisone, I've already called around to local vet. They were all like a chicken? Whut? No confidence instilled there. I'm going to be in town on Thursday so I'll have an opportunity to talk to some one at the feed store and see if they have any advice. Until then... I'm a bit sol...

 

[ochochicas]

The vets in my town all said the same thing, and we are pretty rural. Even my horse vet won't return my calls when I inquire about a sick chicken.

For the B vitamins, I cut them up in quarters and then slip a piece in a kernel of corn. Good Luck!

 

[CuriousChicken]

Thanks ochochicas. His head is still a little tilted and he's still a bit dizzy but he's feeling much better. Yesterday he didn't want to crow at all and today he's crowing up a storm and he's not scratching at his ear as much anymore. And he's pretty picky, not a big corn fan, I'm probably going to have to mash a quarter of a b complex pill and put it in peanut butter or something.

 

[CuriousChicken]

He seems to be doing better, he's not scratching at his ear, his little ear holes not swollen and there's no gunk in it. He did stop eating for a couple of days while we peroxided his ear, but he fulled his crop to the max last night just before bed time. As long as he keeps that up I'll be happy. He's doing chicken things now, instead of wanting to spend all of his time in my lap. But his head is still tilty and his balance still isn't the best, jumping from his cage to the bed is hard poor guy keeps missing. We haven't peroxided him in a couple days and I have been treating him with a B complex in addition to his food. the B vit shoved into a banana seems to work. We've also upped his animal protein intake with eggs, he's happier but I'm just not sure if he's getting better.