wobbly head in 1 day old

[key west chick]

I hatched out some chicks, the last one born early this morning. It keeps throwing its head back and falling on the bottom of the brooder, where it lays there peeping and trying to right itself. DH says it looks like it has some sort of neurological problem. I think it just hasnt found its sea legs yet and will get stronger as the day goes by. Another one was doing this last night but is great this morning. I did give it a little drop of Poly Vi this morning. Any other things I can try?

 

[MissJenny]

Can you make it a little nest out of a wash rag -- kind of twist the rag, turn it in a circle -- to give the little guy some stability and a place to be. I bet you are right -- as the day wears on she will grow stronger and stronger.

Best of Luck,
Jenny

 

[ScratchesWithChickens]

I have a 6 week old cochin bantam chick that has had a bobble head since birth. He always looks like he's dizzy and he used to run in clockwise and counterclockwise circles when excited or scared. He's gotten a little better and doesn't run in circles but he still looks like he's dizzy and he gets picked on by his other brothers. I had to separate them, I suppose the natural order of things would be for the strong chickens to kill the weak ones in their flock. I'm not sure what's wrong with this little guy or if he has the same problem as your chick but it's been suggested that it happened in the egg during incubation. A bacterial thing. The incubator is given a thorough cleaning between hatchings and the eggs weren't particularly dirty.

Your chick could just be a bit unbalanced, I've had that too. I make sure they get vitamins in their water and have some sort of support. The towel idea is great. I've noticed that when there's a chick that has bad balance sometimes they will get in the middle of the rest of the chicks for support.

Good luck!

-Alex

 

[key west chick]

DH has become extremely attached to this little one. DH was a pilot and he said it looked like this little guys "gyros" are off. Gyros help keep a plane balanced. So, guess what we have named the chick? Gyro.

I'm also wondering about wry neck so I'll keep up with the Poly Vi's. Right now Gyro is sitting in my lap.

 

[ScratchesWithChickens]

Quote:
That's a very cute name! We've just been calling ours Dizzy. We definitely all have our own gyros in our head. I was just reading about the inner ear, I'm guessing that's where Dizzy has the problem. Here's little of what it says...

"Interference with or infection of the labyrinth can result in a syndrome of ailments called labyrinthitis. The symptoms of Labyrinthitis include temporary nausea, disorientation, vertigo, and dizziness. Labyrinthitis can be caused by viral infections, bacterial infections, or physical blockage of the inner ear."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inner_ear