7wk old chick tucking head shaking and backing into wall...HELP!

[awacado]

I have had grown chickens before but never baby chicks. I have a 7wk old light Brahma named Yeti that curls its head upside down shaking it back and forth while backing up until she hits a wall. Maybe slightly unbalanced but No obvious paralysis wing or leg. I also noticed that her irises are grey but I don’t know if they have always been grey.
Wilco farm store says all of their chicks are vaccinated against Marek’s. As far as I can tell our three other chickens (different breeds) do not act this way and their irises are golden brown.

Yeti has been quarantined since I noticed something was wrong. She will still eat her purina medicated start and grow feed. We also feed her twice a day white bread soaked in chick boost probiotic water, scrambled eggs, and two or three drops of poly vi sol (without iron) plus vitamin e and selenium added.

Her poops are light brown and a little runny. Twice yesterday I noticed some dark green bits in the poop.

I think she might be having spasms less frequently since starting the vitamins 4 days ago. I have a video of Yeti in spasm but can’t get it to upload.

Is there anything else I can do for her at home?
Does anyone have any experience or know what is wrong with Yeti?
Do I need to worry about my other chicks?

 

[coach723]

I would continue your vitamins, especially since you may have seen some improvement. Wry neck sometime resolves very quickly, sometimes it takes longer. Some chicks are more susceptible due to the parents being deficient. I would also give a B complex tablet, 1/4 to 1/2 a tablet daily (human ones) since medicated feed contains amprolium which mimics thiamine and in some cases may cause a deficiency in chicks susceptible. The B's are water soluble, so very unlikely to overdose those. B deficiencies can cause some weird symptoms sometimes. I've even had hens in molt have it happen due to the stress of molt.
Since the chick is 'acting odd' it may be getting kept from feed and water by others, so I would monitor closely to make sure it's able to get enough. Some birds may need help feeding and drinking until they've recovered enough. Would be a good idea to get a weight on it and monitor, it's much easier to judge adequate feeding that way, make sure it's gaining as it should. I think the eye looks OK. To post a video you have to put on youtube or other host and then put the link here.
https://www.raising-happy-chickens.com/wry-neck.html

 

[awacado]

I would continue your vitamins, especially since you may have seen some improvement. Wry neck sometime resolves very quickly, sometimes it takes longer. Some chicks are more susceptible due to the parents being deficient. I would also give a B complex tablet, 1/4 to 1/2 a tablet daily (human ones) since medicated feed contains amprolium which mimics thiamine and in some cases may cause a deficiency in chicks susceptible. The B's are water soluble, so very unlikely to overdose those. B deficiencies can cause some weird symptoms sometimes. I've even had hens in molt have it happen due to the stress of molt.
Since the chick is 'acting odd' it may be getting kept from feed and water by others, so I would monitor closely to make sure it's able to get enough. Some birds may need help feeding and drinking until they've recovered enough. Would be a good idea to get a weight on it and monitor, it's much easier to judge adequate feeding that way, make sure it's gaining as it should. I think the eye looks OK. To post a video you have to put on youtube or other host and then put the link here.
https://www.raising-happy-chickens.com/wry-neck.html

Here is Yeti’s spasm

 

[coach723]

That does look very much like wry neck. I would do the vitamins and give it some time to see if you have improvement. There are other causes, but most of those don't really have a treatment. Head injuries can also be a cause as well as genetics. Mareks can show symptoms as young as 3 weeks, but is more common to manifest around point of lay. Eye color is genetic, I have a 7 week old EE that has blue/grey eyes. Since EE's are a mixed breed, no telling what the genetics are. Most of my others have brown/gold/orange eyes. With Mareks you will usually see a mishapen or odd pupil along with the grey iris. Are both the eyes the same? If you do a search on the web for Mareks eye you will find lots of images. Mareks always jumps to the front of the mind when there are neuro-muscular issues, sometimes it's the problem, sometimes it's not. Hopefully some others will see your video and post and may have other idea's or suggestions. Vitamins is what I would do at this point.

 

[awacado]

That does look very much like wry neck. I would do the vitamins and give it some time to see if you have improvement. There are other causes, but most of those don't really have a treatment. Head injuries can also be a cause as well as genetics. Mareks can show symptoms as young as 3 weeks, but is more common to manifest around point of lay. Eye color is genetic, I have a 7 week old EE that has blue/grey eyes. Since EE's are a mixed breed, no telling what the genetics are. Most of my others have brown/gold/orange eyes. With Mareks you will usually see a mishapen or odd pupil along with the grey iris. Are both the eyes the same? If you do a search on the web for Mareks eye you will find lots of images. Mareks always jumps to the front of the mind when there are neuro-muscular issues, sometimes it's the problem, sometimes it's not. Hopefully some others will see your video and post and may have other idea's or suggestions. Vitamins is what I would do at this point.

Yes both eyes are the same and the pupils aren’t irregular.

 

[awacado]

How long should I keep doing the vitamins? It has been at least 3 weeks since I started with the vitamins. Not really sure that yeti has improved that much besides being able to eat and gain strength. She still spasms sometimes. Yeti is now in the outdoor coop with the other chickens. No other chickens have had any symptoms.

 

[coach723]

Wry neck can take sometimes 4 weeks to resolve (when it's vitamin deficiency), and supplementing should continue a couple of weeks beyond that. There are other possibilities, it could be something genetic. Sometimes neurological things happen that don't have a known explanation. I have a rooster that has an intermittent head shake/wobble, started when he was about 6 months old, and has persisted his whole life, he is now 4. Nothing has made it better or worse, so I have no explanation for why. He has never passed it on to any offspring. I've heard of others that have had similar experiences with twitches or spasms. I'm glad she's able to eat and is getting stronger.

 

[Efraser88]

Any update on the chick? Did you cure it’s problem?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Any update on the chick? Did you cure it’s problem?

The OP has not been active since April.
Are you needing help with one of your chicks? If so - explain your issue and please post some photos.