Vitamin E deficiency and "Crazy Chick Disease" - Photos added post #5

[PiTownPeep]

I know this is an old thread, but potentially a life saver for my 12 day old little polish chick. Putting his head between his legs, sitting most of the time puffy... a loner and only half the size of the others born the same day. THANK YOU SO MUCH!! I have been worried I would lose him.

 

[HanLills777]

Trying to find everything I can to help my little Lily, she hatched last night with no assistance. Have read a few things and bought some vitamin e capsules today (human ones) and gave her some in some water with her first feed. She runs around in a crazy manner and tilts her head back a lot, she also bumps into things all the time

Do I give her the vitamin e neat or in water and how often?

 

[PiTownPeep]

Lily is adorable! I had really good results with my little Wobbles - here's what I did. I got a small glass babyfood jar (I think it holds 1/4 cup water) and put in water and three drops of poly vi sol and squeezed two capsules of Vitamin E 400 IU (for humans) in and shook it up. Then I dipped his beak into it about five or six times, giving him time between sips. On two of the dips I made sure he got one of the floating beads of the Vitamin E on the surface. I did this every day for a week - alternating the poly vi sol with Nutri Drench (used two drops in 1/4 cup). Then, I made up just the poli vi sol or Nutri Drench every other day and offered him that. He's up and running around with his mates and even though he still tuckers out occasionally he's feathering out and getting much stronger. Keep treating her, it won't hurt. Just keep it up for at least a week or two. I am so sorry - I know first hand how hard it is to see the little ones suffering.

 

[HanLills777]

Thanks for replying, I on,y had her for 4 days as hatched them at school and they went to the farm on Thursday but she did so well! Gave her vitamin e I. Water everyday and peas too for B1 and now you can't tell which one she is!

 

[Kaffs Chooks]

Thank you thank you thank you BYC for advising me what to do with our Eve. Eve is a 3 year bog standard brown hen (called Eve because she was bought as a companion to the last of our original 3 hens). 5 weeks ago Eve went up the perch in full health and the next morning stumbled off it in a confused state as if she was drunk. I searched for "Do chickens have strokes?" and yes they do but her symptoms did not fully match her behaviour. So I searched for "Hens with crooked neck" and WOW I was amazed at the amount of stuff that came up. Eve matched the profile to the letter and I realised she had got it bad. Although it seems it is more common in chicks and Eve is a fully grown laying hen(when she can be bothered), however there was no doubting she had Wry neck all right. I rang the Vet to see if they had anything that I could purchase but sadly they didn't really know what I was talking about. So I decided I was not going to have her put down she is a fighter, her comb looked good and her eyes were bright, so I set about treating her myself with the advise of BYC subscribers. I went to the local animal feed place and bought a multi Vit boost. I diluted this as per instructions and socked bread, cereal and cucumber in the liquid as Eve could not eat or drink by herself. She would do a sort of swiping action to "scoop" up little mouthfuls and then have a little nap before having a bit more. We kept her indoors in the cool with her crooked head resting on a cushion so that she didn't chaffe her head and offered her soggy food whenever she woke. We did this for a week with no real signs of improvement so I decided to take the plunge and try the Vit E capsules. At first I only gave a few drops as I was too scared to give a human doze but the more anxious I got for her the braver I was with the dose and by week 3 I was giving a whole Vit E capsule plus a few drops of dissolved Selelium tablet soaked in bread and washed down with multi bit boost. Very gradually after 4 weeks Eve has regained her neck strength and feeding and drinking herself and looking eagerly for treats such as sunflower seeds.It's now 5 weeks and Eve is doing great. She is still a bit wonky and ever so often she will have a dizzy spell if she looks up at you at the wrong angle (we found we need to be the side of her she is looking at you) she isn't confident on the perch yet so still sleeps in a straw bed on the coop floor, but is so much better than those first few weeks when we really didn't know if she was going to pull through. One sad bit to my story is that Eve has lost her place in the pecking order and is chased quite a bit by Squarky who has usurped her place. Eve is able to run like the best of them and just avoids being near Squarky when there is food to share. So I just wanted to say one more thing really and that is DO NOT GIVE UP, with time, energy and patience your girls can pull through but boy it's exhausting and an emotional roller coaster! Just one thing. Does anyone know how long I should continue with the Vit E I don't want to overdo it but as Eve is still a bit wonky I don't want to stop if she can recover fully?

 

[Charliwolf]

I have the same problem with my jg. Noticed the head down running backwards seizures on Friday, started her (and subsiquently the rest of my chicks) on parakeet multivitamin today. Need to find some selenium. Can't find it at tractor supply or pet smart, any suggestions.

 

[3riverschick]

I have the same problem with my jg. Noticed the head down running backwards seizures on Friday, started her (and subsiquently the rest of my chicks) on parakeet multivitamin today. Need to find some selenium. Can't find it at tractor supply or pet smart, any suggestions.

Just put some Bovidr Labs Poultry Nutri-Drench in their water for a couple of weeks. Make it look like weak tea.
http://www.nutridrench.com Circa 6.99 at Tractor Supply.
Here's the ingredient list which includes your selenium. http://www.nutridrench.com/ingredients.html
Been using it for over a decade on my dogs and poultry. Great stuff.
Best,
Karen

 

[Charliwolf]

Just put some Bovidr Labs Poultry Nutri-Drench in their water for a couple of weeks. Make it look like weak tea.
 http://www.nutridrench.com Circa 6.99 at Tractor Supply.
Here's the ingredient list which includes your selenium. http://www.nutridrench.com/ingredients.html
 Been using it for over a decade on my dogs and poultry. Great stuff.
 Best,
 Karen 

 

[Charliwolf]

Thank you very much. I'll get some today. She seems a little better just after one day on the multivitamin, but according to everything I've read, she needs the selenium as well. I appreciate this more than you can know.
Charlotte

 

[Sea Wolf]

Would also like to know what "Brand" your Organic milled mash was. Was it mash or crumbles? Something to be said for moistening the mash then as they are less likely to pick out bits. If this a commercial branded mash then it needs to be avoided. Tiny chicks should not be getting supplements and a lot of vegetable matter. The mash should be all that they are getting for a while. Eating the other things throws off the nutritional balance of the mash completely. Though it sounds like you have gotten a bad batch more than once.