Wry neck...Treat or euthanize?? UPDATED with GREAT results!!

[ChickenLady2014]

Don't give up! Our RIR chick, “Baby” (pictured above), rapidly (within hours) developed severe symptoms of Wry Neck [SIZE=10pt]at about 6 - 8 weeks old. We had been out of town for several days, but our chicken sitter said that overnight, she went from being perfectly normal in appearance to being unable hold her head and neck up out of a 180 degree inverted position. She also walked backwards dragging her head on the ground. By the time we got home several days later, her condition had advanced to the point that she could no longer eat or drink anything on her own.[/SIZE] [SIZE=10pt]With the help of information from this link we are pleased to report that she is now completely recovered, happy, healthy and a real joy to behold (but very spoiled.) [/SIZE] [SIZE=10pt]We used the formula and treatment schedule posted at[/SIZE] http://www.browneggblueegg.com/Article/Crookneck/Crookneck.html[SIZE=10pt] by Alan Stanford (our thanks to him) with the addition of Amoxicillin as recommended by Dr. Janny Hermans and our local vet. The "second week" portion of our treatment schedule extended about a week longer than Alan's schedule due to Baby's slow response. She did not show significant improvement until about the third week when her response was very rapid, showing dramatic improvement to full recovery over the course of about two to three days.[/SIZE] [SIZE=10pt]Throughout her treatment we used a syringe or an (without needle) eye dropper to give her water (about 5 cc's) three to five times per day as she was not able to drink from a bowl.[/SIZE] [SIZE=10pt]After trying various methods to administer the drugs and feed her, we arrived at what we found was a very workable solution to get all this stuff into a squirming chick with an up-side-down head. First, we crushed the solid drugs into powder and added them to her food which we then moistened with the liquid Vitamin B and Amoxicillin. Finally, we punctured the Vitamin E gel caps and squeezed their sticky contents into this food/drug mixture and mashed it into a fine texture with a fork and then hand fed her. About half of the time she would swallow this, often eating more than 1/4 cup per feeding and filling her crop to a remarkable extent. Other times she would only take water.[/SIZE] [SIZE=10pt]We started feeding her using only scramble egg but later added cooked rice to the egg and finally adding chick starter to the rice/egg/drug mixture. We usually fed her each time she was watered (3 times per day) and monitored her weight daily. We found that she consistently gained weight throughout the treatment and when returned to the flock she was comparable in size to the rest of the girls her age.[/SIZE] [SIZE=10pt]We must advise that her recovery was slow (about 3-weeks) and during the treatment she did not appear to show any improvement until she seemingly "snapped out of it" completely. Now she free ranges in our yard with the rest of the girls and you would never know that anything had ever been wrong. John & Bonnie Boone Chattanooga, TN[/SIZE]

Thank for posting.

 

[aljeffers]

I believe my young hen has developed this. She was fine when I let them out to free range today, but when I went out to close up the coop she was huddled under the roost with her head at an odd angle. I am going to start her on vitamin e in the morning when I get some. Praying this works, she is a hen that was hatched here at home from my first broody hen.

 

[Eggcessive]

I believe my young hen has developed this. She was fine when I let them out to free range today, but when I went out to close up the coop she was huddled under the roost with her head at an odd angle. I am going to start her on vitamin e in the morning when I get some. Praying this works, she is a hen that was hatched here at home from my first broody hen.

Poultry Nutri-Drench or Poultry Cell vitamins contain vitamins plus selenium. Whichever vitamin you choose to use, make sue it has B1 thiamine, as well as vitamin E, and you can give a small amount of scrambled egg, tuna, salmon, chopped nuts or meat, or sunflower seeds for selenium. Here are some good links to read:
http://www.browneggblueegg.com/Article/Crookneck/Crookneck.html

 

[aljeffers]

Thanks for the information, I plan on going out first thing in the morning so I will make sure to get the things you suggested.

 

[mandymoo]

i've just found this thread because my gorgeous girl Lucky has just started showing symptoms of wry neck. she's my only cream leghorn living with a flock of Silkies, as she was hatched from an egg about 2yrs ago

i've started her on the nutri drops and 1 capsule of vitamin E this morning...it's just so heartbreaking to see her distressed. she's still eating and drinking properly as it's only been 2 or 3 days since i noticed symptoms...i wasn't sure what it was at first, as she just looked like she was cocking her head listening for something all the time, but this morning when i let her out, her neck was twisted round

 

[aljeffers]

My girl Stella has improved. I did not use prednisone for her symptoms, due to the cost. My local co-op didn't have any anti inflammatory meds that I could use so I split an ibuprophen 4 ways and gave her that once per day: I also gave her a dropper full of B complex once per day, and a Vitamin E twice per day. For about a week I kept her in a separate pen during the day, and she slept in a box in my kitchen at night. Her symptoms worsened each evening, but I noticed after about a week of the combined meds she started feeling better. I am so thankful for this site, and all of the information. She is back in the coop with the rest of the flock, and is doing so much better.

 

[Eggcessive]

My girl Stella has improved. I did not use prednisone for her symptoms, due to the cost. My local co-op didn't have any anti inflammatory meds that I could use so I split an ibuprophen 4 ways and gave her that once per day: I also gave her a dropper full of B complex once per day, and a Vitamin E twice per day. For about a week I kept her in a separate pen during the day, and she slept in a box in my kitchen at night. Her symptoms worsened each evening, but I noticed after about a week of the combined meds she started feeling better. I am so thankful for this site, and all of the information. She is back in the coop with the rest of the flock, and is doing so much better.

It's so nice to hear that your chicken has recovered from wry neck. Thanks for the update, and I hope she continues to improve.

 

[nadrojsack]

excellent thread, i have a quail with suspected wry neck. quarter the vit e? thanks

 

[Pamlovesdisney]

I successfully treated a chick with wry neck in one day with poly-vi-sol baby vitamins made by Enfamil. I did 2 drops directly into beak three times a day for three days. Be sure to put it on the end of the be so the chick doesn't aspirate the fluid. By the first day my chicks neck had straighten and she was eating on her own. I kept her separate and kept treating until the third day and she was completely normal. Like a miracle! She is now a year old and laying eggs everyday!

 

[suliah]

Following...
My girl (also named Stella, funny enough) has been my house chicken for about 2 months. I'm pretty sure the guy I bought her from had marek's in his flock and now I"ve brought it into mine. Unfortunately, I've lost 4 of the 8 I bought and she's now gotten the wry neck. It just started 2 days ago and she's already so bad she can't put her head upright. I promised my son I'd do everything I could to save her, so I'm going out to buy the vitamin E, selenium, B complex vitamins and polyvisol today. I don't want her to die! I just had to cull one 2 weeks ago who had both legs paralyzed from the Marek's.

It seems to affect the polish hens the worst... FYI. Stella is supposed to be a spitz, but is clearly mixed with polish.