Weakening hen and wringing neck

[Eggcessive]

That is interesting. I sure hope that it isn't Mareks. A necropsy could confirm it if she were to die. Vaccinated chickens exposed to it are considered carriers for life. I would say with the head pecking she could have gotten a head injury. There are just too many possibilities with chickens, especially since most of us don't get necropsies.

 

[MrsBachbach]

Well she laid today but didn't touch her food inside. Her crop was almost empty. I brought her out when I came home and she ate some fermented feed and grit. She did a lot of staggering and neck wringing at first, but it's become more sporadic since I pulled the iPad out to record it. Here's video showing her eating snow and making her neck movements at times.

The missing head feathers I would think would be from a rooster mounting her, but if you don't have a rooster, that has to be from head pecking from the other hens and if it's that, poor thing. That looks brutal. Or head scratching? Is she head scratching?
Yea, I think it's neurological. Could be from injury, could be from nutritional deficiency, could be viral, like Newcastle. Looks too cold there to be any fungal issue at this time of year.
I would watch for abuse from other hens, put out extra feeder and waterer and then give her some Vit E capsules for a few days. Vit E deficiency can cause some neuro symptoms, so I would try that. Just pull open her beak and pop a pill in back of her throat. I'd try one a day for three days. A little bit of selenium also, but that should be in small amounts so maybe a food source that is rich in selenium for a treat. If it was me, I'd try that and just wait and see if she comes out of it. You might consider looking for some vitamin mix to add to their water. Not one with sodium for first ingredient, that's mostly for hot weather and not everyday use.

 

[Noreaster Egger]

The missing head feathers I would think would be from a rooster mounting her, but if you don't have a rooster, that has to be from head pecking from the other hens and if it's that, poor thing.  That looks brutal.  Or head scratching?  Is she head scratching? 
Yea, I think it's neurological.  Could be from injury, could be from nutritional deficiency, could be viral, like Newcastle.  Looks too cold there to be any fungal issue at this time of year.
I would watch for abuse from other hens, put out extra feeder and waterer and then give her some Vit E capsules for a few days.  Vit E deficiency can cause some neuro symptoms, so I would try that.  Just pull open her beak and pop a pill in back of her throat.  I'd try one a day for three days.  A little bit of selenium also, but that should be in small amounts so maybe a food source that is rich in selenium for a treat.  If it was me, I'd try that and just wait and see if she comes out of it.  You might consider looking for some vitamin mix to add to their water.  Not one with sodium for first ingredient, that's mostly for hot weather and not everyday use. 

Yeah it's other hens. When we caught the nesting box issue one was on top of her and had her pinned down and a couple others joined in to pluck her feathers. I haven't seen any bad pecking...just that incident with the feathers being pulled out. That was months ago though and she's been pretty strong since until the past couple of days. She ate well tonight and I gave her a couple of very small whole sardines. maybe tomorrow I'll grind her up a little bit of a brazil nut for the selenium.

She tried to jump up into the coop tonight and totally missed the ladder and went off the side and onto her side. She gets pretty disoriented when running, standing tall, or jumping/flying. I'm not sure what else I can do other than making sure she's eating well nutritionally and avoiding excessive pecking. Her crop was full tonight so I'll give it a check first thing in the morning. I think it's functioning properly for now. We'll see how it goes this weekend. I plan to give them a full day tomorrow to free range. I'd at least like to get her pooping solid again. If it's Marek's and her digestive system is shutting down then it'll be a losing battle, but I'll give her everything I've got. Thanks for the replies and I'll let you know what happens.

 

[Noreaster Egger]

She seemed a little better yesterday and this morning, but by no means great. The funky head and neck movements lessened, but she still is a bit disoriented. When she tried to peck at a sardine on the ground she would miss it a couple of times, but she learned to compensate for it and hit it after a few tries. When she flew up to the ladder to go into the coop she totally overshot the ladder. She has trouble making a perfect landing when she jumps down off the roost too.

I brought her inside to lay yesterday and after a few hours she laid. I got her to eat some ferment and sardines, but she went back to sit on the egg. I let her stay there for another hour or so before bringing her outside. She does seem to be trending broody. She got into a couple of skirmishes with flockmates outside...she seems to annoy them when she repetitively lowly chirps at them when they get near her. There was no major pecking though...just a few neck feathers yanked on.

Her stools are still loose, but there's at least some solids mixed in this morning on the poopboard. I'll keep up with the electrolyte and pumping food into her. If she has Marek's there isn't much I can do, but she still has an appetite (when she's not nesting) so I'll try to keep her as strong as I can.

 

[Eggcessive]

She sounds a lot like the 2 Polish hens I had who were constantly pushed around and pecked on the heads. One especially got on the other's nerves later after she suffered blindness in a pecked eye. She was also so sweet, but she had a rough life for 5 years, choosing to stay around the coop with some bantams and their rooster. I hope your girl gets better, and that her symptoms are more from a head injury than Mareks.

 

[Noreaster Egger]

She went into her nesting box, but has yet to lay today. She's done better with hitting the mark on her food and water. There's been very few jerky neck motions again today. I saw her poop once outside and investigated it. It was brownish black and more on the gooey side than watery. I think I saw a tiny worm in the dropping, but I can't be sure. It's very very thin and less than 1/4" long. There was only one that I could see too. I'm not a worming fan and I really don't want to worm the whole flock. I've been pulling her inside for 6 hours every morning. Think I should give her the Corid during that time? Would enough thiamine be blocked if she isn't drinking the Corid solution in the afternoon? Under normal circumstances I wouldn't even worm her, but I'm concerned considering her health. Since she has been improving slightly would it be a bad idea to even be blocking the B1? Maybe let it play out a little more?

 

[Noreaster Egger]

Just realized I had a brainfart. Corid is obviously for cocci. lol

Point stands except a wormer of course.

 

[Eggcessive]

If one is to use Corid, it needs to be given as the only source of water all day. If you have a local vet who would let you bring in some fresh droppings, they can rule out cocci or identify any worm larvae with a fecal test. I would make sure that they could give you results the same day as well. It seems that some vets send it out which doesn't help much in an emergency. Coccidiosis symptoms usually include lethargy, standing around puffed up, not eating, and runny poop with mucus or bits of blood.I'm glad that she is acting better.

Oh, I just read your last post. I was wondering about the Corid, LOL. You through me there. Valbazen or SafeGuard Liquid Goat Wormer or Equine Paste would be best for worms.

 

[MrsBachbach]

She went into her nesting box, but has yet to lay today. She's done better with hitting the mark on her food and water. There's been very few jerky neck motions again today. I saw her poop once outside and investigated it. It was brownish black and more on the gooey side than watery. I think I saw a tiny worm in the dropping, but I can't be sure. It's very very thin and less than 1/4" long. There was only one that I could see too. I'm not a worming fan and I really don't want to worm the whole flock. I've been pulling her inside for 6 hours every morning. Think I should give her the Corid during that time? Would enough thiamine be blocked if she isn't drinking the Corid solution in the afternoon? Under normal circumstances I wouldn't even worm her, but I'm concerned considering her health. Since she has been improving slightly would it be a bad idea to even be blocking the B1? Maybe let it play out a little more?

I would skip the corid. I don't think her symptoms are cocci related at her age, unless she recently joined your flock. The loose stools could be worms or e-coli infection. If it's worms that is easy to dose an individual bird. Safeguard liquid for goats could be used just on one bird or the others mentioned. Just get a proper syringe. Worms can strip a bird of it's nutrition and make them more suspect to disease. I would keep up on the Vit E and other vitamins for a couple of more days. If it's bacterial, and you don't wish to go with antibotics (which you can find at most feed stores) you could try a herbal route. Oil of Oregano (food grade, not aromatherpy) could be used. You can find the capsules in most health food stores. You could give her one orally once a day for about five days and see if that helps with the stools. But, I would still worm her.

 

[Noreaster Egger]

A little update since I know people like updates.

She's been doing a lot better. She's still laying and her movements are all back to normal. I thought she was going broody, but she never stopped laying and her clucking is lessening. She's been a little more assertive when going to bed to roost so she's been picked on less. She's still missing some feathers, but some are coming back in. We still pull her out to lay separately from the others, but she mixes and mingles with the others fine otherwise.