Chickens may have their pros but they also have their cons, one con is that there are many illnesses and ailments that can affect your chickens.
If you think that your chicken is sick because it is shaking its head and lethargic then read on.
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Chicken shaking head and lethargic:
Any change in how your chicken acts or looks will likely make alarm bells go off in your head if you are raising chickens. Here is why your bird may do this
Respiratory infection:
One reason why your bird may be shaking its head and acting lethargic may be because the bird is suffering from a respiratory infection.
Chickens may suffer from a variety of respiratory infections and some are more serious than others.
One of the common symptoms of a respiratory infection is the bird producing discharge from its nares, the bird will shake its head in an effort to clear this discharge out.
The bird will also become lethargic because its body is trying to fight off the infection.
Other signs of a respiratory infection in chickens include crackles when the bird is breathing, gasping when breathing, a change in the color of their skin, irritation at the bird’s eye, swelling of the eye, coughing, sneezing, diarrhea, and swelling of the face
What to do:
Because there are so many respiratory infections that your bird may suffer from it is recommended that you seek the advice and professional opinion of a vet, preferably an avian, vet who will properly examine, diagnose, and treat your bird.
Isolating the bird if you can’t immediately get the bird to the vet is recommended, this will keep the other birds protected if they are not already sick.
You can isolate the bird in a warm comfortable space like a pet carrier, be sure to give it its own food and water while in isolation.
Mites:
The other reason why your bird may be shaking its head and being lethargic may be because the bird is infected with mites. Poultry mites may love chickens but chickens don’t love poultry mites.
These birds climb and live on your bird and feed off of the bird’s blood, feeding off of the bird’s blood makes the bird lethargic.
The birds will shake their head because they are trying to get rid of the mites that may have settled on their head. The mites will cause constant irritation which will make the bird constantly shake its head.
Other signs of an infected bird include the bird laying fewer eggs than normal, blood smears on the birds skin, loss of feathers, pale comb and wattles, and a reluctance to roost.
What to do:
An effective and natural way to treat your infected bird is to treat it with food-grade diatomaceous earth. This is harmless to chickens but will kill the mites
This comes out as powder but has sharp edges small enough to not harm the bird but large enough to cut and dehydrate the insects thus killing them.
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 Making Weird Neck Movements, 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
