2 Year Old Hen Suddenly Walking Drunkenly/Holding Head and Neck at Odd Angle (Link to video!)

[EggDropSoup]

My hens were totally fine when I let them out around 6 this morning.

I went back out to check on them while ago, and one of my girls--a 2 year old Dominique--is now holding her neck off-center with her head tilted towards the ground. She seems to be having balance problems--she wants to peck at the ground, but it appears to be difficult for her. She is still eating and drinking, with difficulty.

There are some factors that might be at play, but I have no clue what is going on, so these may not have anything to do with it:

1). It is the hottest today (90) that it has been all season--could it be some sort of heat-related issue??
2). I fed them some strawberries this morning that were too far gone for me to eat--could she have some sort of mold toxicity??
3). I bought a bale of straw yesterday to bed their pen with and they were all scratching around in it last night, like they love to do--could the straw (which appeared clean, dry, and fresh) have some sort of toxin in it or could she have possibly poked herself in the eye or something??
4). The more I read about symptoms, the more I wonder if it could be botulism??

This happened so suddenly, that it seems like it must be an injury or something. I looked up the symptoms of wry neck, but this doesn't seem like what it is. I'm so worried, because I'm supposed to fly out on a family vacation tomorrow and the chickens are going to be cared for by a friend. Horrible timing!!

Should I bring her in?? Give her vitamins?? Give her antibiotics??

If anyone can give me some advice or ideas, I'd be hugely appreciative.

I'm having trouble embedding videos, so here is a link:

 

[Eggcessive]

It does sound to me like she has wry neck, also called crook neck, torticollis, and several other names depending on which way the neck is twisted. It can be a symptom of diseases since it is neurological in nature, such as Mareks and severe respiratory diseases (MG, coryza, ILT, and Newcastles.) It is also caused by injury to the neck, and can be a symptom of vitamin deficiency. Most people treat it with Vitamin B1 (thiamine,) vitamin E, selenium, and occasionally prednisone, and keep stress and stimulation to a minimum. Sometimes they have to be helped to eat and drink. There are many threads here about it on BYC at the search at the top, and in this first link , it gives dosages. Here are some links for you:
http://www.browneggblueegg.com/Article/Crookneck/Crookneck.html
http://oureggbasket.blogspot.com/2013/04/wry-neck-or-crook-neck-understanding-it.html

 

[EggDropSoup]

I've got some prednisone and I've cut it into teeny-tiny chicken doses. I was able to give her that crushed up in water with a dropper. The vitamins...I'm going to get them and try to crush them up and get her to take them in yogurt. I'm really worried about asking my chicken sitter to put things in my hen's mouth with a dropper, so hopefully she will take these things in food. I'm so worried for her. Since it happened completely out of the blue, do you think it could be related to an injury of some sort??

 

[Michael Apple]

Don't feed spoiled food items to chickens unless you want them to get sick or die.

 

[EggDropSoup]

The strawberries weren't rotted or moldy or anything--just mushy.

 

[Michael Apple]

The strawberries weren't rotted or moldy or anything--just mushy.

Okay. Judging from many things I see people feed as "treats" on the forum, excess sugar makes birds drink excess water and predisposes them to intestinal problems. So do foods that are not easily digested or are fed in excess amounts that lack or interrupt nutrients they may need. Birds get a little bit of everything on range, but that largely depends on what is nutritionally beneficial on range that is available. That's why we use formulated feeds, and supplement during growth, breeding season, stress, and illness. Encouraging birds to eat foods that are spoiled is not a good idea either.

 

[cdelucchi]

I pick up produce from our local store.and sometimes the peaches etc. will have mold on them after a day or so, should I be putting it out in the morning and cleaning it up in the evening? I do have a chicken who is off most of her food,usually chases down bread today not interested?

 

[EggDropSoup]

I am so confused

My hen has declined RAPIDLY in the past two days. She was moved indoors yesterday morning because her mobility had been affected to the point that she no longer wanted or was able to walk very much at all. Instead, she sat back on her haunches or settled into the position typically associated with nest-sitting. She was still very alert yesterday, and taking food/water, but her neck was more contorted than it had been the day before. As the day progressed, she became less alert and started sleeping a lot. Today, I believe she is on her way out--laying mostly on her side, won't open her eyes. She did have a solid, normal stool this morning, but other than that, I'm pretty sure her body is shutting down.


While she initially had all the classic symptoms of wry neck, this very rapidly progressed into something much worse, which leads me to believe that she was somehow poisoned by mold or a toxin or??? This of course leaves me very concerned for the rest of my flock. So far, they're all fine, and I've scoured the yard for anything that might have been the cause of the problem. While I thought botulism started as paralysis in the legs/toes, and then progressed upward, this started in the head/neck. Could it have still been botulism?? Or some other mold/toxin??

I don't know what's to blame, but now I'm worried there's something in the straw I bedded their coop with (though it was fresh, clean, and had been stored indoors). Maybe it WAS the strawberries. Maybe she found a bit of moldy feed that had fallen from their bowl and gotten wet. I was at the very bottom of a bag of feed when this happened, so it couldn't have been the feed itself--they've been eating it for a month with no ill effects.

This just doesn't seem like vitamin deficiency, because instead of responding to the treatment, she plummeted downhill very, very rapidly. I know in my heart she'll be gone by the end of the day.

 

[casportpony]

I am so confused

My hen has declined RAPIDLY in the past two days. She was moved indoors yesterday morning because her mobility had been affected to the point that she no longer wanted or was able to walk very much at all. Instead, she sat back on her haunches or settled into the position typically associated with nest-sitting. She was still very alert yesterday, and taking food/water, but her neck was more contorted than it had been the day before. As the day progressed, she became less alert and started sleeping a lot. Today, I believe she is on her way out--laying mostly on her side, won't open her eyes. She did have a solid, normal stool this morning, but other than that, I'm pretty sure her body is shutting down.


While she initially had all the classic symptoms of wry neck, this very rapidly progressed into something much worse, which leads me to believe that she was somehow poisoned by mold or a toxin or??? This of course leaves me very concerned for the rest of my flock. So far, they're all fine, and I've scoured the yard for anything that might have been the cause of the problem. While I thought botulism started as paralysis in the legs/toes, and then progressed upward, this started in the head/neck. Could it have still been botulism?? Or some other mold/toxin??

I don't know what's to blame, but now I'm worried there's something in the straw I bedded their coop with (though it was fresh, clean, and had been stored indoors). Maybe it WAS the strawberries. Maybe she found a bit of moldy feed that had fallen from their bowl and gotten wet. I was at the very bottom of a bag of feed when this happened, so it couldn't have been the feed itself--they've been eating it for a month with no ill effects.

This just doesn't seem like vitamin deficiency, because instead of responding to the treatment, she plummeted downhill very, very rapidly. I know in my heart she'll be gone by the end of the day.

So sorry.

Where do you live?

-Kathy

 

[casportpony]

Is this the same hen that was limping?
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/774600/hen-is-limping-and-now-lethargic#post_11064318

If so, I suspect you're dealing with Marek's.

-Kathy