Chick with head tucked

[Bramblewood_Farm]

We are pretty new chicken folks, starting with five chicks last spring and they are all healthy, happy, egg-laying hens now.
We got five more a couple of weeks ago (they are 3 weeks old) and all seemed to be going well until tonight when I went to check the gals in the brooder. All looked fine except one. She's in the house now (next to me with a heat lamp). She has her head tucked up under her and when picked up, shakes her head side to side and just wants to tuck up in the fetal position. She's having difficulty standing, with her feet kind of splayed. She was tucking her head, shaking, and backing up as far as she could go. I'm guessing we'll lose her, but I thought I'd ask for advice here.
Their brooder is in the garage, red light at the correct temp, pine shavings, medicated feed.
-Sally

 

[azhenhouse]

What kind of chick is she? Is she a standard or bantam? Is she eating, drinking, and pooping? Is she the only one showing unusual symptoms?

 

[Bramblewood_Farm]

Standard Rhode Island Red, no eating or drinking (forced some warm water in), no pooping, everyone else looks fine.

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[azhenhouse]

You don't want her to get dehydrated. I know that some people have used Gatorade or sugar water for their chicks to prevent dehydration. You can do a search on dehydration and probably find out more about it. Good luck!

 

[Bramblewood_Farm]

she just took a big poop, still with the shaking head tucked and backing up.

 

[GlitterBug]

I gave mine vitamin E from a 400 IU capsule two times a day by squeezing it in her mouth. She gradually became completely well, thankfully.

 

[Three Cedars Silkies]

It sounds like wry neck and this is the treatment we use successfully:

Vit. E. capsule 400mg - twice a day ~ poke a hole in the end and squeeze into her mouth
B complex liquid - 1/2 dropperful twice a day ~ we get it at Walgreens
Prednisone - 2.5mg twice a day for 5 days, then once a day for 2 more days then stop

The reason we use the prednisone is because we have silkies with vaulted skulls and a hard peck on the head or bumping the tops of their head can cause traumatic brain injury and this helps to reduce swelling.

We also massage their neck muscle about 3 times a day. This seems to help relax the tight muscle in their neck.

It can take from a few days to a few weeks to resolve. I've heard others say they had it take longer.

Good luck...keep us posted!

 

[Bramblewood_Farm]

She's had the vit. E and is eating and drinking on her own!
I got up every 3 hours last night to feed sugar water and rub her neck a little and gave the vit. E this morning after going to the store for some. I got B-complex also and will give her that next. She's still doing the shaky/tucking head thing and backing up, but eating, drinking, and cheeping. Gives me some hope at least. I guess we all have to deal with something like this sometime, and it's nice to have somewhere to go for help - thanks for all the advice! I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[featherbaby]

Thanks for the info, Judy. I'll try it on my Silkie Roo and hope it makes a difference.

 

[Three Cedars Silkies]

As a note:

We had tapered off the prednisone for the black pullet that we are treating for wry neck and this afternoon she was more curled up than previously. I gave her a full 5mg dose of prednisone as a loading dose (will go back to the 2.5 mg) and within 2 hours she was uncurled and eating. Makes me think that there is some inflammatory process going on....just don't know what causes it.