Wry Neck - Confused about treatment

[Eggcessive]

Welcome to BYC. Those can be symptoms of wry neck. Walking backwards, in circles, and flips are common. Head injury and vitamin E deficiency can be causes. How old is your chick? Holding the chicken in a towel and feeding it wet chicken feed can help to get more food and water in it. Hoping for the best.

 

[Sachiko]

Welcome to BYC. Those can be symptoms of wry neck. Walking backwards, in circles, and flips are common. Head injury and vitamin E deficiency can be causes. How old is your chick? Holding the chicken in a towel and feeding it wet chicken feed can help to get more food and water in it. Hoping for the best.

I'm not really sure how old the chick is, I just know the feed store was eager to get rid of her. She's been eating chick starter that I ground up with a mortar and pestle with little to no problem; but the first day I had her she wasn't able to eat at all. As far as water goes, I've been mixing in the supplements/electrolytes and giving it through a dropper, which seems to work well. I was planning on getting some cultured plain yogurt and some plain oatmeal along with poly vi sol, for further treatment. I was lucky enough that my mom takes the same supplements required for treatment (vitamin E & selenium). I've embedded a pic; she's shown some improvement in the short time I've had her. Before she couldn't sit without her head between her knees.

 

[oktx]

Thanks to the information on this thread one of mine that I've been feeding with a syringe for two days turned the corner last night after starting him/her on a full dose of Vitamin E. I was already giving rooster booster supplement and selenium. I've made a blended formula using Poly Vi Sol, Selenium, rooster booster (vitamins and electrolytes) and food mixed with water. He/she is eating much more from the syringe in just the first day of full strength vitamin E. Also, his/her head was completely backwards (twisted) for the past two days and now it is facing the right direction again!

This is a silkie chicken that hatched on May 7th. The other 3 that I hatched look normal and are acting normal for now. I've added a tiny amount of rooster booster to their water as well. They are on a chick starter crumble, not medicated.

Thanks everyone for the excellent advice. I have lots of experience raising quail but these are my first baby chicks to raise. The last time I had baby chicks, I had two very happy hens to take care of them and hardly had to do any of the work myself.

 

[oktx]

Unfortunately my little Black Beak didn't make it despite my best efforts.

 

[izzy434]

Is there a sure way to tell if the hen has wry neck or if the condition is caused by something else?

 

[Fancychooklady]

Is there a sure way to tell if the hen has wry neck or if the condition is caused by something else?

You can only diagnose to the best of ability by the symptoms that the bird is displaying.
Ataxia can be a symptom of other ailments.

 

[Lacrystol]

It's usually caused by a blow to the head, silkies get it very easily because there brains are on the outside of there skulls. It is cureable but does take time and from what I have experienced they get worst before they get better. But there really isn't a "for sure" diagnostic. You just treat it and hope for improvements. If no improvements then you go to other options.

 

[Fancychooklady]

the few cases I've had here have been due to a thiamine deficiency. Wryneck or stargazing is not exclusive to chickens , it's quite common in goats. Silkies are also thought to be very poor at absorbing selenium , so in cases of wryneck it is best to supplement both. Crested silkies are susceptible to cerebral hernia and that too can cause the bird to appear drunk or disoriented.

http://www.browneggblueegg.com/Article/CerebralHernia/CerebralHernia.html

 

[Lisemarie47]

The deficiencies that sometimes cause wry neck are pretty well documented as being B1 (thiamine,) E, and selenium which is what the OP was doing in the first place along with prednisone. Polyvisol without iron is a good substitute until you get the three important ones, but it isn't necessary, and vitamins A, D, and E are fat soluble vitamins and can build up and be toxic when too much is given.

Do you have to give prednisone or are just the other things good enough

 

[Jcarnahan]

Is she throwing her head back when she is backing up or stargazing?
Mine did the same thing when I tried to give her vitamins. She finally refused to open her bill and would not let me get the dropper in her mouth.
I started giving my duck oatmeal and mashed peas. Both contain selenium which helps them digest vitamin E. I also got some liquid vitamins from vitaminshoppe.com which fixed it.(the ones in the attached photo) I used a tablespoon of vitamin E mixed with some peas and filled the B complex dropper with the B complex and mixed that in. I did this three times a day until the symptoms lightened and then dropped it to twice a day until the symptoms disappeared. I also kept mixing the brewers yeast with their food.
I also added electrolytes to the water for four weeks because it also contained vitamin E and she wasn't drinking well. This was also to hydrate her as much as possible when she could get a good drink.
My duck dealt with this for a month and she has made a full recovery but it took some determination and patience. It also was not cheap but I think there is hope for even birds with tough cases of wry neck.