2 week old bielfelder has head in between legs and runs backwards. i think its sick

[teamtmo]

2 week old bielfelder has head in between legs and runs backwards. i think its sick.

her belly and head was wet. i dried it and than she seamed normal, but sometimes she just ran backwards with her head in between her legs.

she seams to have also bad balance.

what should i do?

 

[the1913trio]

I would cull the bird, it sounds quite ill. But! There is one last ditch thing you can try just to double check....
With a younger bird acting off sometimes I will isolate them and give them a bit of sugar and electrolyte water in a syringe and then watch for any sudden improvement. I have had a couple of cases at separate points in time of ding-dong babies that were under a week old that didn't drink enough water and became dehydrated. One began having seizures and then incongruent muscle movements when trying to walk after having a seizure. Gave the sugar water and boom! Ding-dong was back to normal. Same thing with a small bantam. Was crying all hunched over repeatedly...needed water and back to normal.

Regardless of what you do, be sure above all to immediately isolate the little one. You don't want more casualties. I take more of a Joel Salatin and Harvey Ussery approach to my birds (two awesome authors/teachers on keeping poultry). Yes, sometimes a sick baby can be fixed, but you don't want them ever breeding, and they do tend to get sick at some other point again anyways further down the road/ they just are never as hardy typically. I saved an ill duckling once, but ended up culling it as an adult anyways as it was always incredibly skittish and not as healthy of a bird.

Let us know how it goes and if it was an illness issue or a nutrition/hydration issue.

Oh! And also don't forget to ensure that the brooder is at the proper temp; not too hot or cold as well.

 

[keesmom]

Do a search on here for wry neck. There are many threads on the subject.

 

[the1913trio]

Hey Keesmom, I was initially thinking wry neck except for one factor...it sounds like the bird was totally fine and then spontaneously got the crooked neck between the head issue at about 2 weeks old. From what I read having congenital loco/wry neck is something you usually note upon hatching, and the majority of the birds don't live past the first 3-7 days of life. If they can recover at all they usually need poly-vi-sol (spelling correct?) and neck manipulations to straighten things out.

So is it possible for a chick to wry neck out suddenly at two weeks of age when they are eating and drinking a proper diet?

 

[keesmom]

So is it possible for a chick to wry neck out suddenly at two weeks of age when they are eating and drinking a proper diet?

Yes. I've had 2 silkie chicks get it at 2-3 weeks of age and I had an adult Faverolles hen who developed those symptoms after cracking her skull against the coop ceiling.

Is it possible your chick hit it's head?

 

[teamtmo]

It could be possible that she hit her head. We have pvc chicken fencing over their brooder to keep them from flying out. Maybe she tried to fly & hit her head. The only thing is that I noticed when they were all 1 week old that they were sneezing. Her and our Sulmtaler chick primarily. So, maybe she is also just sick & somehow developed wry neck. I have no idea how this could have happened. It is our first time raising chickens & we have grown so close with all 3 of our feather babies. It is breaking my heart to see her like this. She has always been the sweetest & most docile chick out of the 3. Our Easyer Egger chick has always been bossy & the fastest to develop. Maybe she also pecked at our little Lady. I'm so lost on this :-(

 

[keesmom]

All you can do is try your best to make sure she stays hydrated and some food if possible. If food is an issue try Poly-Vi-Sol with no iron, Poultry Protector or even electrolytes. Then it's just a waiting game.