HELP! Chick with crooked neck!

Found a great website on Silkies, and here is the info they had on Silkies with crooked necks:

Silkies are susceptible to crookneck, also called limberneck. Symptoms are a gradually bending down of the head, until the head is between the legs, the bird scuttles backward, sometime doing flips, and eventually dies.

Crookneck can occur in chicks as well as growing and adult birds. Cause is unknown, however silkies have a hole in the top of their skull and easily suffer injuries to the brain.

This article will only address chicks with crookneck. Sometimes a chick will hatch normally, eat, drink and poop normally, but begin to show crookneck symptoms in 3-4 days. At first, you might just notice that the chick always seems to be looking down in front of it. As soon as you notice this, begin treatment immediately.

Massage is the best way to cure crookneck in chicks. I learned about this from a very successful breeder in CT, and have had 100% success on every chick that I have used this method on. Hold the chick, and using your thumbs, rub up its neck to the base of its skull. You might hear little popping noises, but don't worry. Apply just enough pressure to move the skin and the muscle beneath. Massage for 3 minutes or so, and put the chick back in its brooder. Do this every few hours or every time you pass by the brooder. Best results are realized when you can massage the chick at least 6 times a day.

In our experience, within 3 days, we couldn't tell which chick had been showing the symptoms, but we keep up the massage after the symptoms have passed, until the chick looks and acts exactly like the others in the brooder. Our experience has been that chicks that recover from crookneck do not have any tendency to develop it again as adult birds.

Fawkes= http://www.silkiechickens.com/crookneck_in_chicks.htm

Great info and I hope it helps!

I wanted to add to this that in MARCH I recieved my chicks in the mail and after a couple of days of them being here I noticed that one of my girls(Buff Orpington) had a crooked neck. I figured she would die because she couldn't hardly get to the food and water and all the other chicks just kept running over her literally! I had to physically put her little butt in front of the food and water. Anyway I called the hatchery and told them and was wanting to know what I could do for her and if they thought she would live. All the lady could tell my is that it could of been from the needle was put incorrectly in her neck and that they would credit my account. Well "Quazie" is still cluckin' shes now 18 wks old and seems to bee doing fine spunk and everything! She's not at the bottom of the pecking order either! So I dont know. She really looks hunch back when her crop is full.

Thank you all for your insightful input. I have tried the vit E for last few days but she seems to have worsened. When i started the E she was just looking down and to the right a little, now she is running backwards, falling over and head is between legs. I will give the massage a go and see what happens. I really want to give her every chance. I hate having to cull chicks for any reason. I will let you all know how I go with it.

Thanks again all.

Bad news all! The poor little chick died over night. I felt horrid, but at least I tried everything I could I suppose. Thank you all who posted for giving it a chance anyway.

I really hate that. So sorry she died.

Thank you Gumpsgirl. I hate it too. Particularly after spending so much time trying to help her. I tend to get more attached to the sick/troubled ones.

I have a two day old chick that can't walk. It's neck and head lean to one side. I am feeding it and it is drinking water. It is also pooping. Will using the vet tape around its legs help it to walk and will that help it to balance his head?

Below is a link with a short video to show what it does. I appreciate any help!