Blind Eye to Wry Neck

[MissDaisy]

Hello. My rooster's name is Chester. When he came to us with twelve other chicks, I noticed something was wrong with his eye. It wouldn't open on it's own. When I separated the eyelids, the eye would open for a few seconds then close. He's two months old now. The eye would get a tiny bit of white thing and that would make his eye unable to open on its own. Two days ago I started using salted water to clean the eye, then I put Visine eye drop. Yesterday he was doing okay. Last night after I cleaned his eye, I put two more drops of Visine in his eye. So far I put only three drops in his eye. This morning when we checked on him, I noticed his neck was crooked. He would look and sleep on one side. I had to feed him water and food with a syringe because he wouldn't eat or drink.

I noticed a bump on his knee a month before too. I think the bump caused him to have a crooked leg. I put chopsticks on both sides of his leg as brace. He's getting around fine.

Attached please find the picture of his eyes (one good and one bad) and leg.

Would someone tell me if Visine might have poisoined his eye? What can I do to fix his neck? Should I let the eye heal by itself and the neck will be normal like before? Could you give me advice on how to fix his leg too?

Please help. I'm very worried about him.

Thank you so much.

 

[Eggcessive]

How old was he when you got him? Wry neck can be from a vitamin deficiency, an injury, or from Mareks disease. It is a symptom, not a disease. His eye problem, the bump on the knee, and the wry neck might be Mareks. I would bput him on Vitamins (PolyVisol without iron is good.) Also add some Vitamin E, and a tiny bit of selenium to the mix. I hope it's not Mareks. Here is info on wry neck: http://oureggbasket.blogspot.com/2013/04/wry-neck-or-crook-neck-understanding-it.html

 

[MissDaisy]

He was a few weeks old. Do you think it was Mareks? The other twelve chicks are perfectly fine. They are not ill at all. Chester is getting weak. I feed him with the syringe but I hope there's something else I can do. What else would you recommend? Thank you.

 

[Fancychooklady]

I would definitely start the treatment for wry neck. Eggcessive has given you some very good advice.

 

[MissDaisy]

Thank you so much. I will start the wry neck treatment.

 

[Eggcessive]

If he won't eat you could tube feed him. I haven't done this to a chicken, but it apparently is pretty simple if you get the tube and syringes. Here is a thread with istructions: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...cken-and-give-subcutaneous-fluid#post_9910754

 

[MissDaisy]

Yes. I've been feeding him with a syringe. I hope he can get through this challenge. I really don't want to see him go.

Thanks for your help.

 

[angel8035]

Also look up eye worm and see if that matches his eye symptoms. First and foremost, though, you must fix his neck so that he can eat and drink.

 

[MissDaisy]

Yes. I've been trying to fix his neck. But two days ago, his neck started to turn in circles. He would try hard to stop for half an hour so he could eat. Then he would go back to turning his head. Every time his head turned, he would fall backward.

I don't know if he can get through this or not.

It's really sad to see him like this.

 

[Eggcessive]

Do you have him on the vitamins? If you can add some extra vitamin E and a tiny bit of selenium to the mix. Wry neck is sometimes very hard to treat. Do you have him with the others, or is is isolated for peace and quiet? Isolation may help. If you feel that his quality of life is not good, or he is suffering you may need to consider putting him down. I'm sorry that he is having such a hard time. Here is a thread for you to read through about wry neck--maybe there is something to learn: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/630079/wry-neck-confused-about-treatment