Broken Neck? Pls Help

[jensweet01]

I found one of my Orpingtons this evening laying down with her face on the ground. When I picked her up she was alive but limp as a rag doll and unable to lift her head. I carefully examined her & found no blood, broken skin or missing feathers. However, is is apparent that her neck is injured. It is contored in an odd downward curve & she is unable to lift it. Upon interrogation my 3 yr old son admitted to hitting her with a toy (not my proudest moment as a mother).

I set up a "recovery room" for her in the coop with a large dog kennel, some bedding, food and water. She is still sagging her head, can't lift it at all or move it much from side to side. She makes a little cackle when the other chickens come near her, very pitiful sounding.

Any suggestions on what else I can do for her? I can't afford a vet visit but I do want to provide the best care I can at home. These chickens are pets and well, I'm very upset about the whole incident.

I took pics & will try to post them....but have never posted a pic on here

Any help, please.....

 

[MandyH]

Wrap her in a towel and put her in a dark isolated place. You might want to try to give her a little water with a syringe but dont be moving her head around. If you wrap her is the towel you can kind of make her where the towel is supporting her head instead of it just laying there on the floor. If she isn't any better tomorrow, she will need to be humanely euthanized.

 

[jensweet01]

I should mention that I'm a first time chicken owner (for about 5 months now) so any ifo you might have, obvious as it may seem, would be much appreciated.

Here are some pics (hopefully)

 

[jensweet01]

Thank you Mandy...will so do that now.

 

[kathyinmo]

Are you absolutely sure it is an injury? Your picture looks like mine did .... look at this post...

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=2599387#p2599387

 

[MandyH]

Yeah, if you can get her some support for her head and neck, it will take the strain off the neck muscles and MAYBE it will be better tomorrow. I knocked a chicken out one day with a BIG fishing net (accidently) and thought I had killed it. Well you can imagine my surprise when he jumped up off the burn pile where I had thrown him and was running around the yard in circles LOL!!!!!

 

[jensweet01]

Mandy~That's very encouraging...and a nice visual ~LOL~ I was able to wrap her up & support her head/neck pretty well. If she makes it til morning I think we might have a shot...

Kathy~ I looked at your post & the pics look uncannily similar but I'm POSITIVE my girl was injured. A 3 yr old wouldn't just get himself in the biggest trouble of his life for fun...not my 3 yr old atleast. Hope you find a solution to yours.

 

[threehorses]

I would gently palpate the neck bones and see if you feel one out of alignment. I would give her a dampened mixture of water, crumbles, and egg yolk. If you have a vitamin E capsule (400-700 IU) it wouldn't hurt to put that into the mixture. See if she'll eat. She might have troubles swallowing because she'll be unable to lift her head - I'd help her hold it up while you offer the food on a spoon. The same with some water with a little pedialyte in it (50/50) if you have some. That way if she can't drink as much it might help with dehydration issues.

Then I agree - give her a towel for head support - put one one rolled up in front of her (or wrap something up like a couple of bricks in a towel) to rest her head on.

Then let us know what you find.

If she free ranges and he hit her after her neck was down (I'd ask him to be specific) then it might be something else, in which case a flush might help. But I'd ask him to hit you with what he hit her and how hard he did it, for mommy to help the bird. Get him to point where exactly.

 

[jensweet01]

threehorses-Wow, tons of great info. Thank you.

I talked a little more with my son & he says she was laying down and "looking at the grass" and he kicked her in the face......Now I'm wondering if it really is an injury because with her head hanging it really does look like she's looking at the grass. maybe she was in trouble before he came along (and kicked her while she was down). I'll go check her neck now to see if i can feel anything. Also see if I can get her to eat. Thanks again for the great info...I'll keep you all posted.

 

[jensweet01]

Okay, I brought her in and felt for any bones out of place. As far as I can tell everything seems to be inline.

Tried feeding her a mixture of mash, yolk, and water. She wasn't interested in the mash but took all the liquid she could get so........

We moved on to diluted pedialyte. She took all I offered but (just as you anicipated, threehorses) it kept running back out as she cannot lift her head to swallow. I tried lifting head for her but she wouldn't stand for it. Kept backing away from my hand whenever I tried. Her neck is completely limp. She can "move" it from side to side by moving her body...kind of like you would if you were wearing a neck brace.

I wrapped her back up, supported her neck with a rolled up towel, and put her back to bed. Will check again in the morning to see if she survives the night. Then we'll try food and water again.

Thanks again for all the help. I'm posting a few more pics.....