4 week old chick cant lift head

[TwinsFam]

TaHello, we were watchin our 4 week old chicks and their mama scratch around this evening and suddenly one chick cannot lift her head. All of the other chicks look fine. Any ideas as to what this could be? They we're hatched from eggs that we bought locally and we're not vaccinated at all.

Thank you,
Twinsfam

 

[Eggcessive]

This could be wry neck which can be a neurological symptom of an injury, a vitamins deficiency, or from disease. First you will want to start some vitamins and add some selenium or selenium-containing foods such as egg. Vitamin B1 thiamine and vitamin E are the ones that are important. Keeping the chick away from too much stimulation is best. Help with feeding and drinking. Here is some reading and the first link has vitamin dosages:
http://www.browneggblueegg.com/Article/Crookneck/Crookneck.html
http://oureggbasket.blogspot.com/2013/04/wry-neck-or-crook-neck-understanding-it.html
http://partnersah.vet.cornell.edu/avian-atlas/node/600

 

[TwinsFam]

Thank you so much for replying. I will get to reading.

Is this something that is contracted by humans? We have two toddlers that love our chickens and were out with the birds when we noticed this problem.

 

[Orpington Crazy]

In my opinion you could try using ploy vi sol without iron 2 drops twice a day by mouth. We had something like this happen when our two week old chicks decided to eat their bedding and were not getting the required nutrients from their feed. Of the three two made it. We separated them from the rest, two or so weeks of twice daily medicating with poly vi sol and vitamin E and three times a day feeding of egg yolk, moistened chick starter and chopped meal worms. Holy cow I just realized how much effort we put into them no wonder I don't have a life. The two surviving ones can't even be told apart from the rest thank goodness for zip ties.

Good luck
Alyssa

 

[Eggcessive]

Thank you so much for replying. I will get to reading.

Is this something that is contracted by humans? We have two toddlers that love our chickens and were out with the birds when we noticed this problem.

Oh no, it's not something that humans would get. You should always wash their hands when handling any birds though.

 

[TwinsFam]

Ok, so we gave our poor little chick water and poly vi sol last night and this morning she is completely down and cannot move. She will not take water or anything. It's not looking like she will make it through the day. We don't really know what to do for her and we are planning on taking her to the UC Davis avian necropsy lab to get some definite answers if she passes (We dint live to far from there ).

Is there anything I should be doing to protect the rest of my flock when I don't know what is goin on with this one bird?

 

[Eggcessive]

If you can give her some liquids with a syringe along with her vitamins it may help. Tube feeding is also possible: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/805728/go-team-tube-feeding Having a necropsy done will help you put your mind to rest to rule out any diseases. Mareks disease and some other diseases such as Newcastles and fowl cholera can cause wry neck, but she was a little young for Mareks to show up (although not impossible,) and she would have shown real sickness if it were the other diseases. Newcastles is not even seen in the US. Give us an update on her condition or if a necropsy is done.

 

[Orpington Crazy]

I hope she pulls through for you. Sadly once the one that didn't make for us went down there was nothing that helped. Make sure to watch the rest of the flock for any signs start supplement feeding and vitamins with the first signs. Since we only had 22 chicks at the time we gave everyone a single dose of ploy vi sol once a day for about five days. Hopefully everything works out for you.
Wishing you all the best
Alyssa