5day old silkie crooked neck and now unable to move

[Gammas Bearded Babies]

This chick has been perfect up til this morning! I noticed it belly up kicking and chirping loudly. I turned it over and now it's neck is turned sideways.
I spoke with the breeder and she feels sure it either got pecked on the head or it hit uts head on the brooder plate.
I tried to force poultry cell down its beak...I sure hope I haven't made things worse for it...not realizing they have an air hole under their tongue and I could cause it to choke.
Any help is greatly appreciated!!!

20221103_082729.mp4

• Gammas Bearded Babies
• Nov 3, 2022

 

[SmiYa0126]

Hello! Baby needs b complex and vitamin e oil, I'm not sure on dosage, tagging @Wyorp Rock, @Eggcessive ,@azygous , chick with crooked neck and immobile.

 

[azygous]

@SmiYa0126 is correct in the treatment. Silkies are prone to wry neck. It's possible it injured its head, as well. The B and E should address either possibility. You want B-complex tablets that have good amounts of B-2, 6, and 12 and vitamin E 400iu. Poultry Nutri-drench is a good supplement for very sick babies. There is little danger of overdose.

Don't be concerned with the precise dose. It's adequate to just get these vitamins into the chick. If you use a syringe, while holding the chick, dribble the fluid with vitamins in warm water and some sugar mixed together onto the right side of the beak. The chick will draw it in and swallow it. As the chick works its beak to draw in the drops, keep a steady application of more drops on the right side of its beak. (The chick's right side, not yours)

Do this every hour or two, as often as you can find time for. The steady bombardment of the vitamins should produce improvement by the end of the day or by tomorrow. If the chick declines instead, it could be a sign of brain damage that might improve with several more days of this regimen. But a steady decline would point to irreversible brain damage.

 

[Eggcessive]

With baby chicks, they can have either E or B1 thiamine deficiency-related encephalomalacia (wry neck, crook neck.) They also can get a head injury, and some wry neck is genetic. I usually recommend vitamin E 400 IU and 1/4 tablet of B complex (not B12 which some think is all B’s.) Your Poultry Cell is good, but I would add a little more E. Try to get it drinking by dipping it’s beak and then eating as well. Hopefully you will see improvement soon.

 

[Gammas Bearded Babies]

With baby chicks, they can have either E or B1 thiamine deficiency-related encephalomalacia (wry neck, crook neck.) They also can get a head injury, and some wry neck is genetic. I usually recommend vitamin E 400 IU and 1/4 tablet of B complex (not B12 which some think is all B’s.) Your Poultry Cell is good, but I would add a little more E. Try to get it drinking by dipping it’s beak and then eating as well. Hopefully you will see improvement soon.

Would it really go down that fast?!
I have the human vit B
Just crush it and dilute with water?
I'm barely able to get a drop here and there in the lil baby.
Just tried to get it to eat and no go.
And is the vit e a human vit gel?

 

[Eggcessive]

The vitamin E is a softgel, which can be punctured. The B complex tablet can be crushed, and 1/4 tablet dissolved in the smallest amount of water and fed with a dropper or needle less syringe. Until you get additional vitamins give the Poultry Cell 1 ml daily with a dropper.

 

[Gammas Bearded Babies]

The vitamin E is a softgel, which can be punctured. The B complex tablet can be crushed, and 1/4 tablet dissolved in the smallest amount of water and fed with a dropper or needle less syringe. Until you get additional vitamins give the Poultry Cell 1 ml daily with a dropper.

I've been giving as many little drops as it will take every hour.
It actually got up and walked a little and went over to eat dry food!
But it mostly just stands around chirping really loudly and then flops over upside down.
Is the chirping loudly part of all this? Or am I missing something?

20221103_183815.mp4

• Gammas Bearded Babies
• Nov 3, 2022

 

[azygous]

The loud chirping is a distress signal. Like any baby that cries, you need to run down the checklist of what needs may be going unmet.

Too cold?
Too warm?
Is the chick out of sight of the others? Yes? Then it's lonely.
Check that it's pooping. If it's not pooping regularly, it may be constipated.

 

[Gammas Bearded Babies]

The loud chirping is a distress signal. Like any baby that cries, you need to run down the checklist of what needs may be going unmet.

Too cold?
Too warm?
Is the chick out of sight of the others? Yes? Then it's lonely.
Check that it's pooping. If it's not pooping regularly, it may be constipated.

I did all of that...nothing seems to make it stop.

 

[azygous]

Do you have a scrap of fleece material? Something soft, plush, and warm? Make sure the chick has been fed, its crop is full, then wrap it in the fleece like a cocoon. It can be completely covered so it's dark in its little envelope. Place it with the others so it is able to hear them. Be sure it's getting the proper heat, and see if that calms it down for tonight.