The Accidental Smallholder Forum

Livestock => Poultry & Waterfowl => Topic started by: Juno on May 15, 2012, 08:46:46 am

Title: Stargazing chuck !
Post by: Juno on May 15, 2012, 08:46:46 am

Help required my 'broodie' chuck has starter to 'stargaze' which i am lead to believe is a vitamin deficiency.

Assistance required - what vitamin and were do i get it please ?

Title: Re: Stargazing chuck !
Post by: chrismahon on May 15, 2012, 08:51:11 pm

Stargazing in adult chickens is a neurological problem Juno. Can be caused by heat stroke. Although I think Anti-inflammatories can ease the condition slightly it is essentially irreversable. Try Googling it as it was my wife who did the research after we had one. With chicks it would be a vitamin deficiency of the parent, but that would be irreversable as well.

Title: Re: Stargazing chuck !
Post by: Juno on May 16, 2012, 01:52:53 pm

Ahh poor lass, although she does look brighter this morning and has stopped her constant 'brooding' to get up and eat !

I will have a 'google' and she how she goes

Thanks for your advice x
 

Title: Re: Stargazing chuck !
Post by: chrismahon on May 16, 2012, 08:29:28 pm

Are you sure it's Stargazing Juno, if she can eat and drink? The startgazing I am referring to is when the head rolls backwards, so effectively they are looking backwards with everything upside down. The head is usually tilted to the side slightly, but in our case it wasn't and the hen went into a wild thrashing panic. Suprisingly when we offered her Yorkshire Pudding (her favourite) her head position returned to normal to eat it, then went back to Stargazing. She was thrashing about so much we hastily despatched her before she injured herself as well.

Title: Re: Stargazing chuck !
Post by: Juno on May 31, 2012, 10:23:13 am

Thanks for your replies, she was throwinig her head back and flayling about with wings flapping etc, but not all the time she was also finsding it difficult to walk, kinda on her tippy toes !!
 
I got the vitamin suppliment and thought it can't do any harm ! so left her too it, she has been on one nest or another since mid Feb so was very thin and probably quite weak too, but she was now willing to get up and move about to eat/drink etc.
 
I left her in the capable hands of my mum while i went to Eygpt for a week  8)  i have come back and she is fine not a flutter, flap or head roll in sight  ;D  whatever it was seems to have dissapearered xx

Title: Re: Stargazing chuck !
Post by: chrismahon on May 31, 2012, 08:42:48 pm

Amazing Juno. Wasn't stargazing then as that's permanent, so perhaps it was some kind of trapped nerve after sitting for so long which caused similar symptoms?
 
What did your mum do to her?