Bantams Acting Strange

I have a trio of Buff Brahma Bantams and these are my first Bantams. When I first got them one of the hens was doing this strange twitchy thing with her head. The thought that came to mind was Marek's but i was entirely uncertain. Quarantined them for awhile and all seemed well. Although once in awhile the hen still does the twitchy thing. Last night I noticed the Roo was walking a bit stiff and fell on his side a couple of times, he also was stepping backwards. To me it looked like he was trying to stay balanced. This morning everything was fine. But I did notice Roo kept picking one foot up.

So my question is could he be acting this way because he was too cold or is there a possible health issue?

The pens are in a large barn. It is not well insulated... yet but there is no wind draft and it does keep a few degrees warmer then outside. I do not have heat lamps going so far but when I do chores I run the Ready Heater while I am in there. It warms up to about -5. All the other birds are doing well with this, no frozen combs or toes.

Any suggestion's would be appreciated

Klassy

We found bantam Brahma's are not a super active bird and were not as tolerant of the cold, especially damp weather. They also do not adjust well to any extreme temperature changes, which unfortunatly our area is prone to which is why we went to a thermostat controlled heater. Our barn is heated to 50'F or about 10'C and they do just fine. Just my opinion after owning them for the last 3 years.

My gut reaction to your description was ear mites. An ear full of mites can make them walk off, lift a leg as if to scratch their ears, shake the head.

Other issues cause these same symptoms, but step one, the simplest step, is to try and eliminate the most obvious things that are easily treated. Process of elimination.

Either dose them with an Eprinex or Ivo type pesticide, or use ear mite drops. If it clears up in a week or so, you'll know it was ear mites...maybe. Good luck.

I agree I thought ear mites first!! You may also find that they may possibly need a little more heat then your standards. Hope you can figure it out!!

Oil in the ears will suffocate mites. And it is totally safe.

Oh thanks! I didn't even considered ear mites, never had a case of them before. What is the best oil or does it matter? I'm Not going to soak em in 10w-30 Thinking mineral oil maybe? How often should I apply it? Also how long should I do this for?

Are the mites large enough to see?
Do I need to worry about my other birds?

Thanks!

Olive oil is good. You can also buy ear mite oil. I would treat every chicken they came in contact with.

Thanks Sue, olive oil is what I am using!

Mel thanks for the advice! These are my first Bantams and my DH brought them home as a gift. I figured they would not be as winter hardy being smaller I have been debating putting a light in their run and think I will just to make sure they are comfortable What I have going now is not a permanent set up. We moved here in August and the place was a real mess.... barn had 2 1/2 feet of old straw still inside!! All other buildings were in the same state. We did as much as we could before the snow hit us but there are still things that need to get done, I am slowly getting insulation up!

Thanks again all! Appreciate the input!
Klassy