Upright and having neck/head spasms

[Orit]

My 2-year old Red Star was a little lackluster yesterday. This morning, all the other hens were out in the run except her and one other. I just got back from work and she is at the back of the run. She's standing almost upright and having these neck spasms - to the left, to the right. It's so strange! What's happening to her?

 

[Eggcessive]

It sounds neurological, but seeing a video posted to YouTube with a link posted here might help. Chickens do occasionally agjust their crops which looks a little weird if they keep it up, but if it is rythmic like a seizure, it may be due to a brain problem or disease. Head injury, vitamin E deficiency, Mareks disease or something else that affects the brain may be responsible.

 

[Eggcessive]

Here are a couple of videos of chickens with weird neck movements. One turned out to be an impacted crop, while the second one stopped the behavior shortly:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/neck-spasms.1094675/

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/weird-erratic-neck-movement.1184935/

 

[azygous]

Yes, please try to give us a video of this behavior. You can describe it, but we need to see the level of severity with out own eyes to judge what could be causing it.

Impacted crop could cause a mild form of neck motions as you are describing, while neurological issues may cause a more severe head and neck motion, perhaps accompanied by subtle balance issues.

 

[Eggcessive]

I would give some vitamin E 400 IU daily, squeezing a capsule into some food. Also check the chicken’s crop to see if it is full and hard. Recheck it early in the morning before she has eaten.

 

[Orit]

Thanks for sharing the videos. The first video is definitely what she's doing except that she's standing still. The other chicken was taking steps forward. I just checked her crop and it is very squishy - not at all hard. Thoughts?

 

[Orit]

Thanks for sharing the videos. The first video is definitely what she's doing except that she's standing still. The other chicken was taking steps forward. I just checked her crop and it is very squishy - not at all hard. Thoughts?

And now that it's getting dark and all the girls are going up into the coop to roost, she is staying down below in the run on the roost that is directly underneath the coop. She is no longer doing that neck spasm thing, rather just sitting there all puffed up. She allowed me to pick her up without a struggle when I went to check her crop. Should I do anything now, or wait till morning?

 

[azygous]

Check her crop before placing her on a roost for the night. Make a mental note of what it feels like. Then, first thing in the morning, check her crop again before she eats anything. If it's full and squishy still, she likely needs to be treated for sour crop. https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

 

[Orit]

OK - thanks! She's currently not in the coop with the others and instead is perched on the roost right underneath the coop. It's hard for me to reach her there. I may need to leave her out for the night Our run is secure with hardware cloth that goes one foot down into the ground so I think she will be safe from night predators. I hope that's OK. I'll check her crop in the morning (it was squishy and full when I last checked it about an half an hour ago) but I can't reach her now.

 

[Orit]

Update: She was alive this morning (phew!) and I checked her crop and it was enlarged and squishy. After reading about sour crop, I am pretty sure that is what she has. I'm not smelling that sour smell, but I do hear gurgling ever so often so it seems to fit the bill. I've brought her inside and fed her garlic water. She's sleeping in a cage inside now. In the morning I imagine I will find a squishy crop again so will do the garlic water. I also have a bowl of it in the cage but I'm not sure she'll drink from it. Thanks to all for helping me diagnose. I'm not in the clear yet but feeling much better.