[didsomeonesayellie]

My white 'Amber' hybrid, Daisy, has started to act very strangely. She staggers every now and then, and moves her neck in and out and curls it up.
At first I thought it might be something to do with her eyes because she's having a lot of trouble with co-ordination (pecking my hand instead of treats, and completely missing grain off the ground).
She's quite young, 18 - 22 weeks, and we bought her along with two others from a good breeder near our home. They vaccinate all their hens, and we've bought hens from them before, and they're our best layers.
It's only started today, and her stools are tiny and not very frequent. They're also very runny, and I've only been keeping hens for a year, but they do not look like healthy droppings.
Any help or advice would be so helpful.
Ellie

[Casey76]

Is she holding or drooping one wing?

Incoordination and staggers sound awfully like Mareks, and she is the right age, unfortunately

You will need a vet to confirm.

[didsomeonesayellie]

Every now and then she'll bend slightly and stick out her wings, like some hens do when they're okay with being picked up or stroked.
Can you vaccinate against it? Will my breeder have done that?
Thankyou

[didsomeonesayellie]

My breeders website says they vaccinate against Mareks when the chicks are a day old through a hatchery injection.
Is it possible that the vaccinate isn't 100% effective?

[freebirdy]

when you say she moves her neck and curls it, is she curling her neck upwards and looks like she is gazing up at the sky? There is a thing called wry neck, also known as stargazer syndrome. Birds that have this act "drunk" and then curl their necks back and upwards and look like they are literally "stargazing."
Keep an eye on her. Unfortuantely wry neck is incurable. It is a nevous system illness and causes pralalsys (don't know how to spell it but I'm sure you know what I meant!)
Just do bear in mind it has been hot today so it could be a simple case of dehydration!! If your chook hasn't drunk enough that could cause odd dizzy behavour and also loose poos!!
If she continues to curl her neck pop her to a vet. Wry neck is a terrible thing for a chook and unfortunately the only thing for a chicken with the condition is to have it dispatched.
Hope this helps - and not too alarming for you. Fingers crossed it's nothing serious.

[didsomeonesayellie]

She's not looking upwards, more trying to focus on me.
Hopefully it is just dehydration, she's quite new to my flock as well, so could it be the result of a sharp peck to the head, or running into something? I have small mesh fences that even the oldest hens that I've had since the start run into it at full speed when the see me coming with food.

[Sassy]

Vaccinations are not proof against disease. It should mean that the symptoms will not be so bad though!

[kirstie1978]

:o( sounds like mareks. Although my chicken was dropped by a certain someone and was considered to have a brain haemorrhage. She was my favourite chicken who followed me everywhere and was sadly put to sleep.
I hope all works out for you

[didsomeonesayellie]

She's totally fine now Luckily. She's one of the cheekiest of my flock now. Hopping over fences into my (very angry) sisters vegetable patch and escaping whenever I open the back gate into the wood. I think she was a little thirsty and she was quite new at that time, so she was probably being wary and had had a few pecks to the comb.

[Sassy]

She may have been dehydrated with the other chooks not allowing her near the water