Please help! Baby silkie chick with head tremors

[cheepcheepnash]

I'm raising baby chicks for the first time. They hatched on Monday and I received them Wednesday. My cute baby buff silkie was very weak at first. It barely opened its eyes, would sway, and would stay sleepy. I was able with vitamins, hand feeding, and dipping its beak in water to help make it stronger.

It is now able to walk, play, and drink with the others. It will sometimes eat from the metal feeder, but more often I have to put food on the ground to get it to eat. It does go under the heater plate more often, but it is also smaller than the other chicks. I am very worried though because it has consistently had a head tremor from the first day that has not gone away. It is now Saturday so they are six days old. It comes and goes, but sometimes (when it is stressed or startled) it will shake its head almost constantly for several minutes. I have been giving in Nutri-Drench and that has helped, but the tremors still appear from time to time. I also don't know if I can keep giving it Nutri-Drench too long. Right now it is in the water.

Do you know what this could be? Will it be okay? Should I start giving it Nutri-Drench or Poly Vi Sol without iron and just dip its beak in it once or twice a day instead of giving all the chicks vitamins in their water? Today I got very worried that it could be Avian Encephalomyelitis. Does it look like that in the video? Do I need to separate it from the other chicks? I don't have an extra heating plate but could try to find one. Could it have already gotten the others sick? I want to take such good care of these baby chicks and I'm worried this one could die or maybe it already got the other ones sick.

Thank you so much!

 

[azygous]

I see nothing that's out of the realm of normal chick behavior. I even went full screen for the video, and still only saw normal head shaking.

Chicks and adult chickens shake their heads after eating and drinking when they feel something on their beaks. They shake their heads when they feel a bug on their heads, or a drop of water.

Constant head shaking can alert you to a possible ear infection and pain, dry itchy ears, or a crop disorder. So it wouldn't hurt to have a look inside the ears with a strong light. A drop of mineral or coconut oil in each ear wouldn't hurt if you suspect itchy ears.

A neurological issue could cause shaking but balance would also probably be affected. This chick appears normally active. I don't detect any issue.

 

[cheepcheepnash]

Okay thank you! That would be a relief. She doesn't just do it after eating or drinking though. Sometimes she'll do it nonstop for ten minutes or more, especially when stressed. For example, last night she had a pasty butt. I took her out to rinse it off and she then had these head tremors for twenty minutes with only maybe twenty seconds between the tremors.

 

[azygous]

Check her ears. Check her throat. Monitor her crop. Excessive head shaking is a symptom that should be investigated. If a chicken behavior alerts your concern, listen to it. Only you can intuit if a behavior is out of the normal range. Always trust your instinct.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

It will sometimes eat from the metal feeder, but more often I have to put food on the ground to get it to eat. It does go under the heater plate more often, but it is also smaller than the other chicks. I am very worried though because it has consistently had a head tremor from the first day that has not gone away.

She's tiny, so I would offer her a wet mash of chick starter - she's eating from the feeder at times, but is likely picking up the smallest morsels off the paper towels/puppy pads.

I would direct dose her with the PND at 2-3 drops twice a day instead of adding the vitamins to the water. Give plain fresh water.

 

[cheepcheepnash]

Thank you all so much! I am so incredibly grateful. Her ears look okay but I will keep monitoring them--and everything else you mentioned too.

I'm hoping that since she is moving around, drinking, and running with the others that it isn't something too serious. Hopefully the trip just stressed her a bit and maybe she's lacking some nutrients and will get better with some tlc.

I tried the chicken mash and she absolutely loves it! It's the most I've seen her eat since I've gotten her. Hopefully that will give her the energy and nutrients she needs to grow up strong. I will give her the vitamins in drop form starting tomorrow too. Would it be alright to just put some in a dish and dip her beak in it?

Thank you again!

 

[azygous]

Chicks that age can change rapidly from day to day. One day they will be perfectly fine, and the next day, at death's door step. It's what makes having chicks in their first two weeks such an exercise in paranoia, yes, even for those of us who have raised many chicks.

Pay close attention to pasty butt. It can cause digestive tract obstruction in less time than it takes to notice the messy butt and clean it. Signs of obstruction will be listlessness, loss of appetite, eyes that appear pained, scant poop, and perhaps neck gyrations or gaping beak. If you see any of those signs, pop a teaspoon of coconut oil into its beak. Measure out the oil, chill until solid and then slip the pieced into the beak.

You can slip the vitamins into a teaspoon of wet mash and watch the chick to make sure it consumes it all.

Try crumbled tofu mixed into the mash or by itself. It's easily digested and extremely rich in protein and nutrients. I sprinkle Nutri-drench over the tofu like a sundae. You can do the same with soft boiled egg.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Thank you all so much! I am so incredibly grateful. Her ears look okay but I will keep monitoring them--and everything else you mentioned too.

I'm hoping that since she is moving around, drinking, and running with the others that it isn't something too serious. Hopefully the trip just stressed her a bit and maybe she's lacking some nutrients and will get better with some tlc.

I tried the chicken mash and she absolutely loves it! It's the most I've seen her eat since I've gotten her. Hopefully that will give her the energy and nutrients she needs to grow up strong. I will give her the vitamins in drop form starting tomorrow too. Would it be alright to just put some in a dish and dip her beak in it?
Thank you again!

Glad she likes the wet feed - she may have not been eating enough.
For the vitamins, you can add them to her feed if you wish. I usually use a syringe and drop a drop by the beak and let them take it in. A soaked qtip works well too - just press it against the beak and let the liquid sort of seep into the beak - go slow a little at time.

Keep us posted on how she's doing!

 

[cheepcheepnash]

Thank you! She is eating so much more. It's also a relief knowing other people get nervous about their baby chicks too! I've worked on many farms before and taken care of so many chickens, so I didn't expect to be so worried now that I have my own baby chicks.

Her head is still twitching, but not as much. I have been feeding my chicks medicated starter. Last night I was reading and saw information about thiamin deficiency. On the PoultryDVM website it says thiamine deficiency can cause "tremors, with the severity of the spasms increased when frightened." That does sound like my chick.

Do you know if medicated starter can impair chicks' uptake of thiamine and cause problems? I'm wondering if she was deficient already and the medicated starter isn't the best for her. I was using medicated starter because losing a chick to cocci sounds so scary to me! I do have Corid on hand though if any of them did develop cocci symptoms.

 

[azygous]

A very astute observation. Let's give you your Educator's badge right now! Yes! Amprolium is specifically meant to block thiamine. This is a big reason why many of us stopped with the medicated feed years ago. I would think silkie babies are more sensitive to this deficiency than others.

You can give B-complex to the chick, or Nutri-drench. It shouldn't require much to get this issue resolved.