My Chicken Is Curling Her Neck Down Under Her Body

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sixpaws4

sixpaws4

In the Brooder
11 Years
Aug 7, 2008
12
0
22
Michigan
Yesterday I went to check up on my chickens and the one keeps curling her neck under her body and walking backwards and doing flips. I thought she broke her neck, but she did stand with her head up, but not for very long and gets tired out. I had jumped on here and was reading about limberneck and ran up to the store and bought Polyvisol and selenium like they were talking to give. Of course can't find what I was reading yesterday, today.
Now I'm giving her oatmeal mixed with egg and trying to get her to drink water. What else would be good to give her that I'm not thinking about?
Not sure on the type of chicken she is, but she has red color. I'm new to the site so don't know how to add a picture of her yet, if needed.
Thanks to anyone who can help.
 
In addition to the Poly-Vi-Sol, give her a Vitamin E gel cap each day, the human kind, just cut off top, squeeze, and get her to eat the goop. I had a crook neck chick, Ruth, who got really bad but lived to tell the tale. If the neck is too twisted for her to eat you may have to hold her and hold her neck and head straight so she can eat till she gets better. Once better, don't let up on the Poly-Vi-Sol and Vitamin E for a couple of weeks cause she could relapse. For multiple reasons some chicks suffer from vitamin deficiencies and the vitamins in Poly-Vi-Sol and the Vitamin E really help.

You'll find many threads under crook neck or limp neck if you do a search on here and see that others have gotten their chicks to recover too so don't give up.

Good luck and welcome to BYC.
 
Oh No I wouldn't think of giving up on her, (well I think its a her). When getting her to eat I wrap her in a towel and have her neck up so food will go down easy. Thanks I will go and get some vitaman E. Never had this problem with any of my chickens before.
Bunches of Thanks to each of yous for you input.
 
O.K. Not to be an alarmist here but I had this happen to one of my chicks when she was only about 4 weeks old. What it was with her was she had a wound that got infected and spread to her brain. The infection in the brain caused all the symptoms you mentioned(tucking head/rolling over/walking backwards). You can do a search under my user name and see the whole ordeal but if it is the same thing you need much stronger antibiotics. She was given oral doses of Omoxicilin and another very strong AB that I cant remember, twice a day. Along with a probiotic to replace the helpfull bacteria in the digestive tract.
 
This happened to one of my chickens at about 16 weeks. I gave her the poly vitamins and the vitamin E and it didn't really work. My friend is a vet and she said that I gave it a try but I ended up putting the hen down. I can give you her write up of the diagnosis if you want. I would prefer to email it to you instead of putting it here.
 
If it's wry neck, then vitamin E does help if you catch it early. I was told it starts from a vitamin deficiancy.

We had a very young silkie bantam chick get it, and gave her the only thing we had in the house that was rich in Vitamin E, which was black-oil sunflower seeds. Of course, we cracked them and got the nut-meat out and crushed it before giving it to her. She thought it was the best thing she ever tasted by the way! She showed improvement in just a day or two. We gave it a few days and stopped, and she relapsed. We started again, and she showed improvement the next morning. We gave it for one full week before stopping this time, and she made a full recovery. It's been about 2 months since then and she's just as healthy as can be.

She was the runt of the bunch, and always got bullied away from the chick starter, which is probably what started the vitamin deficiancy to start with. Since then, she's become a lot tougher and even hangs out with the big chickens.
 
Now I have been giving her the polyvisol, vitiman E, seleium, once a day, every morning. Plus making sure she eats and drinks many times a day. She has shown some improvement, she can get herself to stand and eat with her neck up. But I have noticed that when she eats she either has to be standing or I wrap her body in a towel and hold her up. But if she bends her neck towards the ground then it surely starts doing that curling. I was wondering how long does it take for them to full recover? This is day 5 when all this has started. I'm going to try that black-oil sunflower seeds.
And if I can get the anti-botics I will try that. Thanks for any help that yous give me. Thanks
thumbsup.gif
 
Give her the Poly-Vi-Sol twice a day - about two drops each time. Feed her some scrambled egg also high in protein and vitamins.

I had to hold Ruth's neck for a couple of weeks if I remember correctly but she was badly twisted. I would hold her and let her eat out of my hand or a container while I gently massaged her neck and helped hold it straight.

I don't think you need the antibiotics. If the vitamins are working that's probably what was wrong. You will need to keep up the vitamins for a least another couple of weeks till she is recovered and for a week or so after. I know it sounds like a lot of work but it's worth it. Ruth is my sweetest chicken and my only pet chicken. She runs to me when she sees me, wants me to put her up on roost when the roos are after her, still jumps on my lap to have her feathers preened. You'll form a bond with each other that will last for life. Ruth is now over a year old and her neck still twists at time as does her tail but she has the strength and energy to hold it straight when she wants but in her case, it left a permanent curve. She free ranges with everyone else and is normal in all respects. I have some of her fertile eggs in bator right now and in another week she will be a mommy - the first of my original bunch. I guess I'll find out if her case was genetic or not and I know there are those who say I shouldn't hatch her eggs but she's my little girl and I want a part of her to live on. Won't matter to me if there's another little Ruth with a twisted neck.
 
In addition to the vit E and selenium (by the way you need to ensure the selenium does NOT exceed 50 MICROgrams) .... you must also not give it every day for too long as it is retain in the body and has a very narrow therapeutic range ... as essential as it is this means in excess it can actually cause the very same symptoms you are treating for... follow the instructions for dosing in this article by alan stanford:
http://dlhunicorn.conforums.com/index.cgi?board=casestudiesemergencies&action=display&num=1160927052

Also: give a general supplement thru her feed (I suggest aviacharge 2000 as it is one of the few complete supplements I know of >this can be ordered online from McMurray or Strombergs ) as there are also some other micronutrients that may be involved or may help also.
Additional reading on crookneck and limberneck here:
http://dlhunicorn.conforums.com/index.cgi?board=emergencies&action=display&num=1160928615
 
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