19 week old Cockerel twisting his neck intermittently. Is this wry neck, seizures, a neurological problem, toxicity, Marek's, or something else?

[Fallenone05]

so do you have any idea why Damerow in the Chicken Health Handbook p.221 says only that it's caused by a recessive gene, and she does not recommend any treatment?

Does she have a source for that listed anywhere in the book? Looking up the book itself, it's from 1994 and Gail Damerow has been raising chickens for 50 years. Is she a vet? Did she get that advice from a vet? Is there genetics that she's studied and has source material for that?

 

[Perris]

Is it talking about Silkies?

No. It's a 350 page textbook on chicken health, with every ailment I've ever heard of and more that I haven't, written in 1994 by someone who was secretary to the Pacific Poultry Breeders Association (among other things), and was prompted to write it after years of editing the association's newsletter, aiming to cover anything that might turn up in backyard flocks. It has chapters on health, nutrition, anatomy, parasites, infectious diseases, environmental-related problems (e.g. toxins), diagnostic guides, postmortems, incubation and brooding, and human-health related (food poisoning etc.). And finally (chapter 15) a very useful Diseases and disorders quick reference. Wry neck appears in the incubation chapter just after a discussion of lethal genes: she writes "Two common hereditary defects, wry neck and wry tail, are caused by recessive genes, meaning they show up only when two birds are mated that carry the same gene. Wry or twisted neck, or scoliosis, occurs as birds grow, and is particularly common among brown leghorns."

 

[azygous]

That clarifies it. Wry neck is caused by other things in addition to genetics. Wry neck caused by genetics is very difficult to treat successfully, and I've seen threads where it was not possible to achieve any improvement at all using vitamin E on some chicks hatched with this proclivity. https://meyerhatchery.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360017811331-Wry-Neck

 

[MysteryChicken]

Is it talking about Silkies? They do have a genetic predisposition to wry neck, but most often it's treatable, even in cases that are chronic.

Most other forms of wry neck are very easily and successfully treated.

Opinions may vary. So does personal experience.

I've raised silkies for years, & only dealt with one case of vitamin deficiency that caused Sudden Blindness, & head nods in one of my chicks. Blindness cleared up when I treated with Nutridrench, head nods took longer, & I treated with vitamin E. He cleared up within a month, & a half, but I continued with 1 pill every other day as a maintenance dose, & the head nods never reoccurred.

I don't believe it's a genetics cause, but simply a nutritional cause.

 

[MysteryChicken]

It has been proven that hens that lack certain nutrients will produce chicks with problems, wry neck is one of these. One reason it's required to give breeding birds a well balanced nutrient rich diet.

 

[Perris]

I don't doubt that poor nutrition of parents or chicks is responsible for a lot of chick ailments e.g. curled toes; I am surprised to hear that blindness can be caused thus too.

What I find really odd is that wry neck, torticollis, twisted neck, and scoliosis all fail to appear in the DVM A-Z of chicken health conditions http://www.poultrydvm.com/views/health.php# .

I don't think wry neck is well understood at all; we can all believe what we want to because the facts are so opaque. But personally I put more store in a published hefty handbook on the topic of chicken health from c. 25 years ago than I do in a webpage from whenever without references or even a proper full name of its author.

 

[Lortiz]

Sorry to hear about your poor boy. If he does recover, do please add him to my thread https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/wry-neck-recovery-stories.1493842/

Thank you. I will!

 

[Lortiz]

It's been my experience here on BYC and also in my own flock, that wry neck has endless ways to present itself. Most have been easily corrected with vitamin E.

Researching nutrition for you chickens is okay, but commercial feeds usually have all of the nutrients chickens require. Some of us maximize these nutrients by fermenting our feed. You might look into that. The added advantage is there is zero waste or spillage and chickens love the taste.

I want to caution you and all who wish to try esoteric homeopathic treatments for their chickens. Very recently one of our BYC friends lost her beloved rooster when she tried to treat him with something that ended up causing internal bleeding. Another BYC member had recommended it. If you or anyone wishes to explore "off-road" treatments, please look up whether or not such substance is toxic to chickens and what possible side effects it has. Chickens don't handle toxins well.

Thank you so much! I do ferment their feed and they do love it! It seems unlikely that chickens would be deficient in any major nutrients since they eat balance feed. But when they are stressed or ill it can increase their need for certain nutrients, so I am giving extra nutrition in the hope it will support him through this. I just don't know if what he has is wry neck or a neurological problem.

 

[Lortiz]

Does she have a source for that listed anywhere in the book? Looking up the book itself, it's from 1994 and Gail Damerow has been raising chickens for 50 years. Is she a vet? Did she get that advice from a vet? Is there genetics that she's studied and has source material for that?

I am not sure about Gail Damerow's training, but I believe she is considered an authority in chickens. She is the editor of the magazine Backyard Chickens, and her treatments are referenced by Poultry DVM.

 

[topochico225]

It's been my experience here on BYC and also in my own flock, that wry neck has endless ways to present itself. Most have been easily corrected with vitamin E.

Researching nutrition for you chickens is okay, but commercial feeds usually have all of the nutrients chickens require. Some of us maximize these nutrients by fermenting our feed. You might look into that. The added advantage is there is zero waste or spillage and chickens love the taste.

I want to caution you and all who wish to try esoteric homeopathic treatments for their chickens. Very recently one of our BYC friends lost her beloved rooster when she tried to treat him with something that ended up causing internal bleeding. Another BYC member had recommended it. If you or anyone wishes to explore "off-road" treatments, please look up whether or not such substance is toxic to chickens and what possible side effects it has. Chickens don't handle toxins well.

Do you have a link to this thread? Sounds like something to read to learn from.