Your mysterious chicken may turn out to not be so mysterious if you can figure out why it does certain things. The bird making weird neck movements can be mysterious but this article may be of help
So, if you want to know why your chicken is making weird neck movements then read on.
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Chicken making weird neck movements:
Chickens can become sick with a variety of different illnesses and ailments and weird neck movements may make you think that your bird is coming down with something.
Here is why your chicken may be making weird neck movements:
Crop issues:
If the bird is making weird neck movements then the bird may be suffering from a crop issue like sour crop or an impacted crop.
The bird will perform constant jerking movements in an effort to release or move something in its crop.
Unfortunately, this will not work to clear out the crop but this is the only thing that the bird thinks it can do to clear its crop.
What to do:
The bird may not be able to clear its crop but you likely can. If there is a blockage in the bird’s crop you can give the bird a lot of water to drink, this may flush out the crop.
If the water does not work, and the bird has an impacted crop, then having the bird drink some olive oil and then massaging the crop may help break up the blockage in the crop
Wry neck:
Another reason why your bird’s neck may be doing weird movements may be because the bird has a condition called wry neck. This condition is also called stargazing, twisted neck, or crook neck.
It is called this because the bird’s neck isn’t able to hold the head up normally, this causes the bird’s head to lay back as though the bird is looking at the sky, or, it causes the bird’s neck to twist in an irregular way.
There are different causes of this condition including a head injury, the ingestion of toxins, or a vitamin E deficiency.
While the illness is not fatal it will cause your bird to stop eating and drinking because the bird can’t get its mouth to food and water, your bird can die of starvation because of this.
What to do:
Start off by separating the bird from the rest of the flock.
While wry neck may not be contagious, the other birds in the flock will become curious about your ill bird and may start to peck at it which is something you don’t want.
If the wry neck was caused by a vitamin deficiency then you need to supplement vitamin E into your bird’s diet in addition to its current feed.
Supplements need to be given according to package instructions, this is usually three times a day until your bird is better.
If you want to add vitamin E into your bird’s diet through foods, you can feed the bird dandelion greens, broccoli, asparagus, and spinach.
You need to be there to help the bird eat and drink as it likely can’t do so on its own.
Note: The bird may get worse before it gets better so you need to be persistent when feeding the bird and giving it supplements.
If you enjoyed this article then you may also be interested in other bird related articles. Here are some articles that you may be interested in: Chicken Shaking Head And Lethargic, How To Make A Baby Chick Sleep, Chicken Not Eating And Walking In Circles, Baby Chick Bleeding From Vent, Baby Chick Acting Drunk, Baby Chick Stumbling, Why Is My Baby Chick Wobbly, Quail Throat Movement, Quail Laying On Its Side