[Oliveview]

I bought 5 POLs tonight and on getting them home I find one has a really strange way of holding her neck-  she is putting her head right back, almost touching her back and holding herself really still, like a bird being hunted!  She can hold her neck normal, she went straight to the food and ate  and had a good drink, then it was back to the odd pose.  She looks like Rod Hulls Emu.  I´m not taking her back to the man who sold her to us, as I don´t want the man to wring her neck!  I have emailed a photo to Grannie Annie and hopefully she will add it here for me.
She is a good weight, looks healthy, apart from her neck :?
The last lot of POLs I get an old bird sold to me, this lot I get an odd bird   I´ll call her Emu
Hope Grannie Annie reads my email soon so you can see what I mean.  She didn´t put her neck right back when I took the photo, typical!
Pamela

[poultrygeist]

HI pamela.

Does she hold her mouth open when she does this ?

And is she ok in every other way ? ie. comb,etc

Rob

[Oliveview]

Rob, her comb isn´t big enough to see!  She seems fine, apart from resting her neck oddly.  
Had a reply from Grannie ANnie, so hopefully a photo will be here soon.  As you can see, here in Spain they clip the beaks, it´s not allowed in the UK is it?  
One of the older hens needs her beak clipped, she gave my bare ankles a good nip this morning :shock:  Not that I would clip her beak, just joking-  I´ll make her into soup instead
Pamela

[GrannieAnnie]

I'll put the photo on here now Pamela, and go delete my other  post!!!  lol

[poultrygeist]

Annie should be able to advise better. She's got a few more chickens than us.

Maybe she thinks a cockerel's going to sneak up on her  :shock:

Rob

[poultrygeist]

Blimey  :shock:

Would suggest a nervous or brain problem maybe ?

But I've no idea really.

Rob

[GrannieAnnie]

Well I may keep a lot of chickens, but we've never had one do this before!  

Except the turkey that was badly pecked around her neck, and although her neck is now all healed up, she holds her head on the side most of the time as if she's looking at the sky, and looks even more dense than the other turkeys!!!!   :roll:  :roll:

[Kate and her Ducks]

I agree with Grannie that it is not dislocated. Cervical dislocation is generally not compatible with life in any vertebrate I know about. Think Aunt Sally (?) was right about a neurological disorder, from what I understand many of these (like in humans) can be caused but vit/mineral deficiencies.

[Zak the Rabbit]

i dont know for sure of course, but it looks like a nerve disorder, almost like some kind of palsy. Ive read about it for other small animals but never heard of such a thing with chickens

[Zak the Rabbit]

you got there just ahead of me Kate,

somewhere at the back of me brain its saying vitamin deficiency, im trying to think which one!

[Aunt Sally]

Yes I had sugested a neurological problem

Vit E deficiency can cause hemorrhage and edema in the cerebellum.  So could have been a poor diet before you got her.

You could give her a supliment and she may improve if the damage is not too bad.

[Oliveview]

Just been to check on ´Emu´and she is looking ok, she didn´t put her head back once-  mind you, we did waken them all up   She looked down and about but not up and backwards, so maybe she had a stiff neck or something.   :?

 How can you tell hens apart when they are all but identical?  Jim suggested some form of mark, I can imagin what would happen if I painted their toenails! The others would be pecking thinking it was a worm or something.
The older hens got their beaks really put out last week when I introduced the 3 new hens (and one  fought with the old girl I was sold) but tonight they just accepted the new hens no problem  
The old girls though insisted squashing 6 onto a perch that should only really have 4 or 5 at a push!  There was a real fuss made by the hen being squashed up into the corner, she was yelling and flapping her wings about.  So I took 5 min picking the hens up and moving them about
I do love my hens  
Pamela

[Bodger]

This is a condition or syndrome known as 'Star Gazing' Its caused by the bird having taken in toxin from moldy food. There is no known cure for this.

[GrannieAnnie]

But if she's eating and drinking normally, will she be okay Bodger?

[Aunt Sally]

Thanks for that Bodger.  We learn something every day