Very strange Silkie...

[blueegger]

My dad has some Silkies that are about 13 weeks old or so. One of them does this thing with her head that can only be described as...well...i can't describe it!! She shakes her head from side to side...not like she's shaking to remove a bug or something, but more like she has some really loud rave music going on in her head and she's keeping the beat. And I mean she gets into it! So much so that my dad named her Aretha. I have had chickens all my life, and raise them now as an adult, but I've never had a Silkie, and have never seen anything like this! As funny as it is to watch, I am a little concerned, because he wants to try to raise some Silkies, and if this is a neurological thing, do we really want to pass this along? Has anyone else ever seen anything like this?

 

[muddyhorse]

I had a banty cochin that did the same thing especially when stressed. I'd like to know why also.

 

[Chickenmaven]

I have read posts in which this has been described and vitamins have been suggessted: Poli Visol w/o iron.

 

[MuranoFarms]

I have a silkie that does that too. Maybe because of the vaulted skull?

 

[silkiechick236]

I had one that did that but he's pretty much grown out of it. He's close to a year old now.

 

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

That's very common in Silkies. It is a vitamin deficiency. Try a couple drops of Polyvisol (without iron) each day and add some protein, too. Mashed up hard boiled eggs are good, or meal worms. When my silkies or showgirls start the head wave, i follow that protocol and it clears it right up.

 

[Neilette]

Is it permanent? I mean, do they have trouble processing a vitamin or some such thing; or is it temporary, a problem with diet?

 

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

From my personal experience, it does not seem to be permanent. It doesn't happen with all my silkies, just some. But the ones that tend towards it will have it reoccur on occasions. i have a showgirl who had it as a kid, then it went away. Now she's broody and is doing it again, probably from not getting enough nutrition. i have four out of six silkies broody in that pen and i need to break up that situation - especially since they all want to be in the same next box, on top of the one egg.

 

[xyresicchick]

hmm. i have a bantam cochin who does that. 6 weeks old. been doing it since 1st week. but its the only one out of 8. and it really just seems like she only does it because she wants to get put down... she only does it when she's held.

vitamin deficiency? i hope not! my chickens eat organic chick starter and "free range" in a moveable pen when i am home. i also feed them worms, centepedes, spiders, grubs, and other bugs that i catch in my garden.