I wanted to post about this in case someone else was experiencing the same thing...
When I let my 9 chickens out of the coop around noon this past Sunday I discovered one of my PBR 5 month old chicks had a droopy and somewhat crooked neck.
I'm new to chickens and had never heard or read about this so it was to the internet immediately! Since I was pretty sure it was most likely caused by a trauma and not botulism (there were signs of a commotion due to the shavings in unusual locations). We gave her water with vitamin E by hand (at first w/a dropper then using a small medicine cup due to reading they could aspirate when using a dropper) and also food.
We held her and supported her neck and when she wanted down she would be able to lift her head a little better but would regress quickly. We kept this up for the rest of the afternoon and then she wanted to go in with the rest of the group so we let her (she had been one of the top of the pecking order so she wasn't being bullied either) - we thought it would be more stressful to isolate. She happily ate (off the ground since her neck was drooping again) and then they all lay down together and she rested her head on the back of another chicken.
Next morning she was on the perches with the others and looked completely normal! Hallelujah a miracle
It's been 3 days and no sign of a recurrance but it's still a mystery why it happened.
When I let my 9 chickens out of the coop around noon this past Sunday I discovered one of my PBR 5 month old chicks had a droopy and somewhat crooked neck.
I'm new to chickens and had never heard or read about this so it was to the internet immediately! Since I was pretty sure it was most likely caused by a trauma and not botulism (there were signs of a commotion due to the shavings in unusual locations). We gave her water with vitamin E by hand (at first w/a dropper then using a small medicine cup due to reading they could aspirate when using a dropper) and also food.
We held her and supported her neck and when she wanted down she would be able to lift her head a little better but would regress quickly. We kept this up for the rest of the afternoon and then she wanted to go in with the rest of the group so we let her (she had been one of the top of the pecking order so she wasn't being bullied either) - we thought it would be more stressful to isolate. She happily ate (off the ground since her neck was drooping again) and then they all lay down together and she rested her head on the back of another chicken.
Next morning she was on the perches with the others and looked completely normal! Hallelujah a miracle
It's been 3 days and no sign of a recurrance but it's still a mystery why it happened.
