chick born with head twisted back over its neck

[jimjack]

we have just incubated some eggs and hatched lots of healthy chicks. however our last chick took over 12 hours to hatch, we helped it out a little towards the end, but he has been born with his head uncontrolablly throwing back over his neck, he also has spraddled leg, which i have splinted with a plaster.... i have just given him some sugared water and he seems to have improved a little. can anyone help

 

[ams3651]

i dont have any solution for you but I have seen the problem mentioned before, maybe someone can help. I would think he wouldnt be able to eat on his own like this.

 

[NitaAZ]

We ordered chicks from McMurray, and one came like that. Any stimulus (esp drinking water) would cause that head to throw back and go into spasms.

She is now 5 weeks old, completely normal, and we can't distinguish her from her sisters. No more spasms. No more head back. No problems.

Good luck with yours!

Nita

 

[jimjack]

THanks!

As the story goes, Last night i offered the chick some water which i dissolved a little sugar into and no joke immediatly he began to get better. He went from being unable to sit or stand as his head was twisted back to having a little more control. Throughout the evening he just became stronger and stronger. When i got up this morning i was amazed that he was walking about with his head the right way... seriously it is hard to believe that he looked as if he had no hope of survival yesterday morning. We moved him into the brooder with the other chicks this morning and he is happy, eating, drinking and very much alive.
I put it all down to the sugar water and lots of tlc.
My daughter named him LUCKY today!!!

 

[Agustus]

I just had one hatch with his neck twisted, but he also has twisted feet. He is not able to stand up but can support himself upright using one foot. I helped him hatch last night. Has anyone experienced this before with success in the end.

 

[jimjack]

Yes this exactly as what happened to ours, he couldn't stand or sit, if he tried to move he would slide. It seemed as if he had splayed leg or spaddled leg, a couple of other chicks had this and i splinted them with a plaster. Search google or spaddle leg and it show you how to splint it. Anyway our chick was upside down with it head twisted back and if you put him the right way he would arch his neck so his head would be right back. It was as if he had no control. We left him in the incubator as was worried that the other newly hactch chicks would bully him.
He did drink ok when his beak was dipped into water. Last night i made a cup of water and added a teaspoon of sugar. He had a few sips and honestly improved.... today he is in the brooder.... it is now hard to tell him apart from the other chicks!

Good luck let us know how you get on!