5 month old silkie with wry neck now dying

[Momadelane]

I have been treating my chicken with wry neck for appx a month & a half now. She had a severe case of it and would just drop her head and walk backwards. She could most of the time gain bearings back and stand up. She had been improving having some good days and some bad days....5 days ago she got to where she was flopping more and more and then the next day she couldn’t stand up at all and was extending one of her legs behind her.
Prior to this I was fixing to begin the Stanford treatment for wry neck...she is having green and white poop that seems to have water with it at times.
She’s drinking and eating some (eggs, yogurt)
If I hold her and hold the bowl up to her. She has clearly lost weight and her feathers just look bad..she lays here making these little noises.
I had hoped that I could pull her out of this, but I am afraid that I am prolonging her suffering.
I don’t know whether to give it a few more days or to just give up.
Because I do not want her to suffer if there is no hope for her.
And if there is no hope, I don’t know what to do.
Thank anyone in advance that can help me!!

 

[ackie]

 

[BunnyEberhart]

Someone posted this link on another thread. It has different illnesses and a chart at the bottom that you can look at the symptoms your bird has and see if something fits them. That may help in deciding what to do next. I'm sorry I'm not more help. I have no experience with this but I hope this helps. The chart looks very helpful.
https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044

 

[Momadelane]

Thank you! I will look now

 

[ackie]

wow I'm bookmarking that for sure

 

[coach723]

I went back and read your other posts. Did you up your dose of vitamin E to 400iu? And provide something containing selenium to help absorbtion?
While wry neck is often caused by vitamin deficiency, it can also have other causes. Illness like Marek's disease can also cause it. The leg extended backwards is a symptom associated with Marek's. Silkies are more prone to head injury due to the vaulted skull, so that is also a possibility. While wry neck can sometimes take a while to resolve, it's up to you how long you want to keep trying. Also hard for us to judge the condition of the bird when we can't see it. If you feel it's suffering and unlikely to recover, then it may be a kindness to euthanize, only you can make that decision. If she doesn't make it, I would recommend a necropsy, so you know if it's Marek's, or some other cause.

 

[Momadelane]

Good morning coach.
Yes I did the vitamin e with selenium from about the 2nd week. Should I keep on with that and go on with the Stafford treatment?
I’ve been reading about the Marek’s from the beginning and praying that would not be it all along. Would Marek’s come on like that?
I mean I know I guess if that’s it she had it all along...I’m just devastated because I’ve really worked so hard to make her better and of course she’s special being as how my great niece named her after her Momma that died of overdose 2 weeks before we got her....poor thing, we had gone down to a breeder to get some polish & showgirls and the breeder said nobody wanted her because she had a crooked beak and I could have her if I wanted.....so I want to do anything of course I can, but don’t want to be make it harder for her!
Happy Thanksgiving by the way
Thank everyone for your responses

 

[coach723]

I'm very sorry. It's always harder when you have put a lot of time and effort into caring for one. It's very hard to say from a distance what your best options are. If you think the vitamins are having any positive effect then you can continue those. Since she also has scissor beak (it sounds like) then if she's having difficulty feeding that could contribute. Sometimes it can be very difficult to know exactly what is going on and necropsy is often the only way to know for sure.
There is information in this thread, post #7, about a test that can be done on a live bird for Marek's, says the test is $20, info is from July of this year, if you want to check that out.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/please-tell-me-this-is-cataracts.1393433/#post-22873479

 

[Swbertrand1]

How did this end up? Did you find the cause of the bird's symptoms?