bizarre behavior 2 week old chick

[sjarboe]

My 2 week Delaware chick is acting very strange. All day, she has been tucking her head all the way under her belly. She will get her head so far under her belly (while walking backward) she will literally do a front roll and land on her back. When she is walking backward it looks like she has no head or neck. I checked for pasting thinking she was trying to reach her vent, but all is clean. She is not pecking at her feathers, just this weird tucking. She is doing this over and over. She is a little lethargic, but when I rouse the flock she will walk around normally and eat and drink before resuming the behavior. She even sleeps with the head tucked under. Any ideas?

 

[lightchick]

Hmmm. It could be the beginning of wry neck?

 

[seminolewind]

Yea sounds like wry neck. If she is still eating and drinking okay give some multi vitamin that they sell for poultry. I could be related to missing vitamins.

 

[Eggcessive]

Encephalomalacia is a form of wry or crook neck that is caused by vitamin E and Selenium deficiency in young chicks. I would give some B1 or thiamine and E vitamins in the water daily, and add selenium 25 micrograms daily to the feed. Poultry Cell (1 ml daily)and Poultry Nutridrench (1 ml orally daily)contain those ingredients. Here is some info about the disease: http://partnersah.vet.cornell.edu/avian-atlas/node/600

 

[sjarboe]

Thank you! I will head to the pet store in the morning. I have already started her on Vit E because I had it on hand. She is so pathetic . Breaks my heart. She is no longer holding her head up when I disturb them in their cage. I tried hand feeding and watering with no luck. Question-is there an easy way to admin. the drops of vitamins etc. It took my daughter and I both to do the E and we had to try 7 times. I just can't hold the chick, pry her mouth open and operate the syringe myself.

 

[sjarboe]

Just to clarify do you give the selenium, E, B in addition to the 2 chicken supplements you listed or do the supplements already contain the necessary vitamins.

 

[Eggcessive]

No, the 2 supplements are just 2 examples of what you can use that contain all 3--just pick one to use. Or you can give the vitamins separately. Putting them in the feed or dropping them a drop at a time into the beak is the best way. Some foods that contain selenium are eggs, canned tuna, and ground sunflower seeds or Brazil nuts. With a 2 week old, I would probably only offer egg (scrambled and chopped or raw mixed with feed.

 

[sjarboe]

Thank you so much. I could not find the premixed vitamins, but found the following homemade vitamin solution.

http://www.theeggfarm.com/blog/2011/11/02/wry-neck-in-baby-chick-video/#comment-157306
After only 4 doses she is strutting around the cage, eating and drinking like a champ. She still has episodes of tucking and rolling, but only when she gets excited. Maybe every 10-15 mins or so.
I so appreciate your help. So does my 6 year old who went to school crying because she was afraid "Bubbles' would die. Thank you again!

 

[Eggcessive]

Yes a lot of people use PolyVisol to treat wry neck. It's good to hear that she is doing better. Thanks for the upsdate.