Loss of balance

Sue

Sue

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Well, here we go again with the next drama!!!

My silver laced wyandotte (12 months old) has this morning started crouching down and walking sideways and round in large circles! She is having a very heavy moult. She is eating fairly well and inbetween the staggering, is walking around normally. She seems bright eyed and there is no other signs of illness. She is vaccinated against Mareks. There are no problems with her legs or feet. I have searched the net and come across some reasons this could be on another forum. Some have suggested that the moult could cause this and to feed high protein. Some suggest Mareks, but as she is vaccinated this is not the likely cause. She hasn't eaten anything poisonous. Has anyone experienced this and if so what was the diagnosis and treatment? I don't know whether I should leave he with the Legbar, who she lives with or take her in to the warm tonight. What does everyone think?
 
Sue said:
Well, here we go again with the next drama!!!

My silver laced wyandotte (12 months old) has this morning started crouching down and walking sideways and round in large circles! She is having a very heavy moult. She is eating fairly well and inbetween the staggering, is walking around normally. She seems bright eyed and there is no other signs of illness. She is vaccinated against Mareks. There are no problems with her legs or feet. I have searched the net and come across some reasons this could be on another forum. Some have suggested that the moult could cause this and to feed high protein. Some suggest Mareks, but as she is vaccinated this is not the likely cause. She hasn't eaten anything poisonous. Has anyone experienced this and if so what was the diagnosis and treatment? I don't know whether I should leave he with the Legbar, who she lives with or take her in to the warm tonight. What does everyone think?
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what's her colouring like is she pale? are her eyes dialated or do they change with light changes? it was very wet last night, is it possibly she's got a little water in her ears, is she shaking her head?
 
We had one recently Sue. Ate a lot of rotting pears and we concluded she was drunk. Pears have gone as have her disorientated symptoms. Fallen fruit has natural yeast on the surface. This can ferment in the crop and it only takes the tinyest bit of alcohol to make a hen drunk. She was moulting as well.

I know that a lack of protein can affect the function of the brain. So perhaps all the protein in her diet is being diverted to feather production and there isn't enough to run her grey matter?

Only problem with leaving her out is accidental injury. So I would bring her in and feed high protein anyway-like maggots or mealworm.

Could be an ear infection if their balance mechanism is like ours?
 
We had a lot of rain yesterday, but she didn't get wet at all. They have a covered run and never stay out in the rain. There isn't any fruit for her to have eaten. Her colouring is fine and so are her eyes. She isn't shaking her head either. She is the one who has been broody for about 6-8 weeks and has only stopped being broody for about a week. She has then gone into this full, heavy moult! She wasn't eating very well whilst broody and lost a lot of weight, so she went into the moult having almost starved herself! I have fed her some scrambled egg mixed in with lots of other nice things - tomato, mealworms, sunflower kernels etc. and she has just eated quite a lot. It was suggested on another site to feed cat food as it is high protein, so I will try that as well. It's really sad to see her (I know what it's like to have bad vertigo as I have an intermittent middle ear problem that causes it) as she is the naughty one who I have had all the problems with and am now quite fond of because of her personality. I will try to feed her high protein food for a few days and see if she improves and if not will ring the vet on Monday. He is really good and he has his own hens, so he will hopefully know what to do if she isn't any better. She can't really injure herself in her run and she's not too bad at the moment as it is only intermittent. If she gets worse I will put her in the dog cage inside the run but still with her friend the Legbar, but as long as she is fairly ok out and about I feel it is best not to add the extra stress of caging her.
 
chrismahon said:
We had one recently Sue. Ate a lot of rotting pears and we concluded she was drunk. Pears have gone as have her disorientated symptoms. Fallen fruit has natural yeast on the surface. This can ferment in the crop and it only takes the tinyest bit of alcohol to make a hen drunk. She was moulting as well.

I know that a lack of protein can affect the function of the brain. So perhaps all the protein in her diet is being diverted to feather production and there isn't enough to run her grey matter?

Only problem with leaving her out is accidental injury. So I would bring her in and feed high protein anyway-like maggots or mealworm.

Could be an ear infection if their balance mechanism is like ours?
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Yes, very much so Chris, if not more they have extremely complex inner ears and very high sensitivity as well as regeneration! http://www.ehow.com/about_5374809_chicken-ear-diseases.html

p.s. i'm not sure chickens can get drunk though, not sure they metabolize alcohol the same way we do, but i'm not sure. they can however be poisoned by it, which essentially is what happens to humans in high doses! :)
 
Sue said:
We had a lot of rain yesterday, but she didn't get wet at all. They have a covered run and never stay out in the rain. There isn't any fruit for her to have eaten. Her colouring is fine and so are her eyes. She isn't shaking her head either. She is the one who has been broody for about 6-8 weeks and has only stopped being broody for about a week. She has then gone into this full, heavy moult! She wasn't eating very well whilst broody and lost a lot of weight, so she went into the moult having almost starved herself! I have fed her some scrambled egg mixed in with lots of other nice things - tomato, mealworms, sunflower kernels etc. and she has just eated quite a lot. It was suggested on another site to feed cat food as it is high protein, so I will try that as well. It's really sad to see her (I know what it's like to have bad vertigo as I have an intermittent middle ear problem that causes it) as she is the naughty one who I have had all the problems with and am now quite fond of because of her personality. I will try to feed her high protein food for a few days and see if she improves and if not will ring the vet on Monday. He is really good and he has his own hens, so he will hopefully know what to do if she isn't any better. She can't really injure herself in her run and she's not too bad at the moment as it is only intermittent. If she gets worse I will put her in the dog cage inside the run but still with her friend the Legbar, but as long as she is fairly ok out and about I feel it is best not to add the extra stress of caging her.
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she might just be hungry and have low blood sugar. please don't feed her catfood, especially if you plan on eating her eggs. most if not all cat food contains chicken :-)03 stick to the eggs as this is natural for them and cooked chicken is not, cat food is made for animals to eat that are not raised for consumption so it's not gone through the proper checks and balances. The chicken ear is pretty resilient so i would just keep her fed and warm and try not to panic. The wind was horrible with the rain last night it may have just caught her out with her moulting.
 
It was a well known poultry forum where it suggested feeding cat food, so I am going to try it. She isn't laying eggs and hasn't for about 3 months or more. The eggs are irrelevant anyway, getting the hen better is the priority at the moment.
 
Hi Sue,I had same problem with one of mine cockrell few weeks ago.I thought that he will be gone in no time as he could not stand propely and was falling allover the place.I had read somwere on the net(other chicken forum) that for losing balance giving them homeopatic remedy Arnica.I had given this to him for 2 days 3 times and all symptoms gone.He enjoyed this remedy and I did not had to force feed him-jus put few arnica on my hand and he picked that up one by one.Maybe you could try this.
 
Sue said:
It was a well known poultry forum where it suggested feeding cat food, so I am going to try it. She isn't laying eggs and hasn't for about 3 months or more. The eggs are irrelevant anyway, getting the hen better is the priority at the moment.
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I understand Sue, but please be aware that cat food is formulated with the nutrient needs of cats in mind, and can contain dangerous levels of certain amino acids for chickens. I'm only saying this as i worked in veterinary medicine for years... it's your choice at the end of the day and it's an old 'trick' so to speak with many chicken keepers, but so is giving barn cats cream and milk. It doesn't make it ok or healthy for them.

p.s. just a note i'm not throwing the vet nursing card in your face, i'm just saying that as i'm a wee bit biased and know more about the scientific evidence side of things vs. the backyard breeder/farmer side so to speak. xx
 
Although not a veterinary nurse myself, I do have a degree in the sciences so am also experienced in this side of things.
 
Quick point about alcohol and chickens- apart from them being under aged- they must share some similarity to pheasants, as they both eat the same type of diet and have crops. Poachers used to soak grain in whisky and put it out for them. They would eat it and get so drunk it was a simple matter to catch them for the pot. Of course they are so cheap now no-one would bother with that. But it was once established poaching practice. So if pheasants get drunk why not chickens Steph?
 
chrismahon said:
Quick point about alcohol and chickens- apart from them being under aged- they must share some similarity to pheasants, as they both eat the same type of diet and have crops. Poachers used to soak grain in whisky and put it out for them. They would eat it and get so drunk it was a simple matter to catch them for the pot. Of course they are so cheap now no-one would bother with that. But it was once established poaching practice. So if pheasants get drunk why not chickens Steph?
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I guess it all depends on what you define as 'drunk' or just poisoned. if you want to humanise them, sure maybe they do get 'drunk'. but i personally don't think they experience the same things as humans do when intoxicated with alcohol. They could be sedated, in a lot of pain, or loving the buzz!! :lol: all the more reason not to poison them. I don't feed my hens rotting food.

I don't know, I'm not a chicken, and i don't speak cluck.
 
Sue said:
It was a well known poultry forum where it suggested feeding cat food, so I am going to try it. She isn't laying eggs and hasn't for about 3 months or more. The eggs are irrelevant anyway, getting the hen better is the priority at the moment.
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You should not be getting this advice on 'well known forums'.
 
However 'well-known' the forum might be, it's not responsible for the advice given by its members. Anywhere on the internet, on any forum including this one, it's a case of caveat emptor, helpful as some of it might be.
 
I was reminded that Gracie (layer of the 126 gramme green egg) just stood at the top of the pop-hole steps, swaying a bit and staring into the air. Reminds me of the 70's and people 'tripping out' on LSD. Then she couldn't get onto the perch -too wobbly. She's laid her first egg after a 6 week moult -extra large as usual.
 
chrismahon said:
I was reminded that Gracie (layer of the 126 gramme green egg) just stood at the top of the pop-hole steps, swaying a bit and staring into the air. Reminds me of the 70's and people 'tripping out' on LSD. Then she couldn't get onto the perch -too wobbly. She's laid her first egg after a 6 week moult -extra large as usual.
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Do you think your Gracie's problem was caused by the moult then Chris? Did she return to normal?
 
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