Vestibular syndrome in a chicken

[pepperpellets]

I have a year old RIR who got very sick around Thanksgiving. She was emaciated, had sour crop, was losing feathers, and was stumbling. The good news is that with a lot of TLC the sour crop has resolved, her feathers are coming in nicely, she's put on weight and is even laying an egg daily. But the stumbling, rolling and circling are still the same. We have her in a big dog crate in the garage. We let her out to exercise daily, but it is distressing to see her do somersaults when she bends forward to peck at something. She seems to be in good spirits, but I want her to get well enough to go back to the coop with the flock. I am assuming she has an inner ear infection. Vitamin c, msm, grapefruit seed extract, kelp have not helped. What should I be using? Have any of you had this issue and what worked for your chicken?

 

[Eggcessive]

You might want to investigate the possibility of wry neck which is treated with vitamin E and selenium. Wry neck (crook neck, torticolis) may cause running in circles or backward, and a twisted neck. Some chickens with Mareks disease may have some of the symptoms your chicken is experiencing as well. Here is some reading:
http://www.browneggblueegg.com/Article/Crookneck/Crookneck.html
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/97121/lets-talk-wry-neck-crook-neck
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/the-great-big-giant-mareks-disease-faq

 

[pepperpellets]

Her neck isn't twisted at all. It isn't turned down back or to the side. She just can't walk without falling.
I will give the vitamin e and selenium a try. Available for chickens?

 

[Isaac 0]

No.Just get Human vitamins from Walgreens ect.

 

[Eggcessive]

Her neck isn't twisted at all. It isn't turned down back or to the side. She just can't walk without falling.
I will give the vitamin e and selenium a try. Available for chickens?

You can give poultry vitamins in the water which will contain vitamin E. Selenium is only needed in small amounts, and can be found in eggs, tuna, and sunflower seeds. Poultry NutriDrench and Poultry Cell vitamins 3 ml daily will contain both. Some also use baby vitamins such a s PolyVisol without iron 2-3 drops daily. There are many choices, as well as using human vitamin E plus selenium. Dosages that one person uses is found in the browneggblue egg link. Wry neck and thise other symptoms are neurological in nature, and may be seen with many ailments affecting the brain. Let us know how she is doing after a day or two.

 

[pepperpellets]

I crushed 1/8 of tablet of 200 mcg selenium tablet, mixed with 100 IU vitamin E in her pellets 2 days in row. Then I skipped 2 days out of concern of overdosing her.
I like the Polyvysol idea and can get that pretty easily. She hasn't changed much, but she only got two days of dosing. I will keep you updated. Thank you, all, for your input.

 

[pepperpellets]

Slowly, my RIR is improving. The vitamin E and selenium seem to be the key. She is about 65% better. Thanks for the good advice.

 

[Eggcessive]

Thanks for the update. I hope that she continues to improve.

 

[pepperpellets]

UPDATE-- Our girl is about 90% back to normal.

I am more optimistic now about the possibility of her making a full recovery. For the last 6 weeks, we've been sure to get her outside for sun and exercise during the day but bring her back inside at night. Putting her with her sister chickens has been a failure; they chase her and gang up on her. I'm not willing to risk a set back or injury since she is not 100% able to run away nor stand and fight back. So we started putting her in the duck pen with our Muscovies. The ducks ignore her. Last night, I went to catch Chicken Jane to bring her inside but couldn't find her at first. I finally looked inside the duck house. I'll post a picture next.

 

[pepperpellets]

This is Chicken Jane. She found a comfy corner with two Muscovy hens who are nesting, sharing a huge clutch of eggs. How cute and funny! I left her there. Last night was her first overnight outside since Thanksgiving.