Help?! Sick chicken with head hanging to the side?

ChickenWitch1

In the Brooder
May 31, 2022
11
3
19
Please someone help. I have a hen, around 15 weeks old. She started acting oddly a few days ago, being very lethargic, gasping for air, and not eating much. We thought it might be the heat, and brought her inside for a few days. I checked her crop to see if it’s impacted and it’s not. Now about 30 minutes ago, I went to check on her, and I found her in her brooder with her head hanging to the side and she was twitching a lot. It was almost like she was having mini-seizures. I took her out and comforted her for a while, because I figured she was gonna die. Her head was still hanging, and she couldn’t seem to get it upright. She’s also breathing quite heavily. So suddenly 10 minutes ago, she just popped back up and fixed her neck. She quit twitching and such. But she’s still breathing heavily. Does anyone know what could be wrong with her?

Update: Today she seems a tiny bit better, she’s atleast eating and drinking. But i can tell she’s still severely unwell. She’s still gasping for air, and her wings and tail are drooping. Please, does anyone know what’s going on?
 
Last edited:

Tookie

Eggsuberant
Premium Feather Member
Dec 19, 2021
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Central Texas
How is she doing? Sorry no one responded to this thread earlier.
I would treat her for coccidiosis, even though she may not have it I would treat using Corid. Another thought would be wry neck, you would treat using vitamin E.
Also It could be Mareks, there's nothing you can do about that.
 

ChickenWitch1

In the Brooder
May 31, 2022
11
3
19
How is she doing? Sorry no one responded to this thread earlier.
I would treat her for coccidiosis, even though she may not have it I would treat using Corid. Another thought would be wry neck, you would treat using vitamin E.
Also It could be Mareks, there's nothing you can do about that.
She’s not really much better. The main problem seems to be her neck. Every time she closes her eyes, it’s like her neck droops to the side unaturally and causes her to shoot back up. The poor thing can’t sleep. I posted about it on a backyardchicken facebook group, and had multiple people say it could be a vitamin deficiency. I’ve been giving her electrolytes, and tomorrow I’m gonna go get her some Nutri-Drench. I will also get some Amprolium incase she has coccidiosis. If neither of those work, I’m gonna buy a dewormer because I had a few people say it could be gapeworms.
 

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