# Retarded Chicken?



## Snake Eyes (Aug 23, 2017)

I’ve got a chicken who seemed to be normal for at least 18 months - now she’s lost the plot completely. 
Walks around with an extended goose-step, lifting legs high with each step. Sits around in the sun with the ‘nods’, like a heroin addict. Seems barely able to keep its eyes open and stay awake, like it’s head is too heavy to hold up. Has great difficulty walking up the ramp to bed - flaps and stumbles and almost falls off, obviously balance issues. Unable to step up onto a perch to roost. 
Her mates have abandoned her and she just does her own thing alone. Hasn’t laid an egg for over 12 months. Sprinklers come on and it’s too dumb to move out from under the water (the others run as soon as the hear the sound of water starting to spurt). 
Its still eating and doesn’t seem to have lost weight - maybe suffering from some kind of dementia? She’s only about 3yrs old.

Any ideas?🤷🏻‍♂️


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

You need to do a hands on exam. You're going to be checking to see if her belly is bigger and softer than it should be. That's ascites and she'll need a vet's attention pretty quickly.

The rest? I just don't know. I'd need to see a video of the behavior. If you can put something on Youtube we can check it out. 

If she gets caught in the sprinklers again, move her. She's obviously struggling.


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## Snake Eyes (Aug 23, 2017)

Thanks - but she’s been acting like this for over 12 months. I’ve picked her up and checked her out maybe 5 separate times - can’t notice anything physically amiss. I think it’s some kind of mental problem. 
I thought it might be known thing with chickens. I’ve only had chickens for the last 5 years and none of the others have ever done anything like this before.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

They don't have mental issues like humans do. She might have something going on with her ears. They can cause a lot of loopy behavior due to mites of infection. Tumors are not unheard of.


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