Chick with bent neck

[Rockashelle]

I have just hatched a chick with this problem also (2 days old). She sleeps standing up, she is separated and is with 3 other chicks I have in my sick bay. They were the last 4 hatched and all have issues (crooked feet, and 2 that didn't absorb all there yolk sac, but have now). I'm not sure how much nutrition she's getting, which worries me. I'm worried if I give her water it will go into her lungs so I have just been dipping her beak in water a few times a day. How do you tell? I haven't seen her poo either, but she is really active and vocal, and seems totally fine....I've seen her peck at some food but I don't know how we'll she eats..this is my first lot of chicks, 22 hatched out of 26. I wish too there was a chicken chiro...I joked with my hubby, that I should take her on his next visit to his chiro....

Good morning Allicoop!

Sumi has asked me to conctact you. I want to share with you my experience. Please feel free to ask me questions. I’d love to help you out. It’s heartbreaking I know…

See my post and I'll be happy to help in anyway I can. I'm at work right now so I will be limited during the day but can answer you on breaks.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/704328/diary-notes-air-cell-detatched-shipped-eggs/3100#post_10187078

 

[Rockashelle]

 

[Rockashelle]

 

[Allicoop]

Hi Rockashelle,
That's amazing what you did with your chick! Fantastic....my little chicks start was similar but had fully absorbed the yolk sac, thank goodness. This is him day 1

 

[Allicoop]

Then he/she learnt to stand

We then had a few dramas where we almost lost her to choking, but thankfully she pulled thru. So she looks rather unkept but that's just from oil on her feathers and I don't want to wet her yet to wash it off.

This is how she tends to sleep, it's worse when she doesn't lean on anything

 

[Allicoop]

Do you think I can help her? She never sits down like the other chickens. Always stands and tries to sleep with her head tilted.

 

[Rockashelle]

Do you think I can help her? She never sits down like the other chickens. Always stands and tries to sleep with her head tilted.

Yes... She's 3 days old now? Will you be able to spend the next two days with her? Did you see the box I used? I rotated my chick from either the floor of a separate incubator, to her box with the toilet paper roll cut in half and cupped it over her to prevent her head from rocking back and then I would let her socialize some so she had a place in the pecking order. Everyday that passes though, it will get more difficult to correct. Can you straighten her little head out with your fingers without the chick showing signs of discomfort?

 

[Rockashelle]

Take a shallow box and cut a teardropes shape hole in it. Big enough for her little feet to hang under her. This will encourage her jocks to stretch out as well as help her to use her back muscles. It's important that she can't touch the ground and push herself out but won't have far to fall if she were to drop. At the time, the only box I had that would work was the tampon box. I was a little embarrassed posting that pic but the thought that it may help someone else outweighed it. If you can untuck her little chin after she's placed in the hole, place a paper toilet roll cut in half just behind her head and over her shoulders. I left Yolk like this (she was actually very quiet and slept every time she was in her box) for an hour at a time. I'd take her out for a drink of sugar water, to hang out with her siblings for a short while, another drink and then back to her box for another hour. You'll want to make sure she's away from the other chicks when you do this. Water is very important though... Just make sure to keep it out of her nostrils when you dip her beak. Immediately after dipping her beak, straighten her head upwards using her beak to extend her neck fully. If she acts like she's choking, just give her a little time to figure out the swallow. It took Yolk 2 days to figure it out.

 

[Allicoop]

Yep, I am home for the next week. I did see how you corrected her with the box. Such a good result. I need to straighten it so it doesn't twist one particular way. When I'm holding her and she sleeps in my hand I can easily straighten her neck without too much discomfort..

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[Allicoop]

And yes she will be 3 days old this afternoon (5 hours approx)