Chick with neck stretched out and haning

[sandesnow]

No idea what is going on.

Last week I had one of my other chicks do this.. and now I have another.
I am wondering if possibly some feed got wet and they ate it? Would this cause this? We are having some extreme heat right now, and last night I did notice their beaks open before going to bed. So obviously some stress going on. (I also handled them all yesterday to get pics.) So I am wondering if that in combination with the handling has stressed them and brought on an illness.

If I remember right, their bedding (which had food in it after they made a mess) had gotten wet. And the day after I removed it, this similarly happened with the other chick. I am honestly also wondering if this is the culprit.

When one of the others was doing this, I basically seperated him and force fed him mash by opening his mouth and placing tiny bits of it in the end of his beak then (and yes it is a rooster) made sure he was drinking every so often (the water had stress aid in it - electrolytes and vitamins) for two days. I honestly thought he was going to be dead by morning of the second day because he was laying down fully and just totally lethargic. I even told my kid, to be prepared. I really thought he was out for the count. But strangely, that next morning he was up, eating and drinking on his own and running around like nothing was wrong. Kinda like in a miraculous way.

Any thoughts on this will be most appreciative. They are 6 weeks

 

[kwhites634]

No idea what is going on.

Last week I had one of my other chicks do this.. and now I have another.
I am wondering if possibly some feed got wet and they ate it? Would this cause this? We are having some extreme heat right now, and last night I did notice their beaks open before going to bed. So obviously some stress going on. (I also handled them all yesterday to get pics.) So I am wondering if that in combination with the handling has stressed them and brought on an illness.

If I remember right, their bedding (which had food in it after they made a mess) had gotten wet. And the day after I removed it, this similarly happened with the other chick. I am honestly also wondering if this is the culprit.

When one of the others was doing this, I basically seperated him and force fed him mash by opening his mouth and placing tiny bits of it in the end of his beak then (and yes it is a rooster) made sure he was drinking every so often (the water had stress aid in it - electrolytes and vitamins) for two days. I honestly thought he was going to be dead by morning of the second day because he was laying down fully and just totally lethargic. I even told my kid, to be prepared. I really thought he was out for the count. But strangely, that next morning he was up, eating and drinking on his own and running around like nothing was wrong. Kinda like in a miraculous way.View attachment 1486487


Any thoughts on this will be most appreciative. They are 6 weeks

What does a Nova Scotian call extreme heat?

 

[Eggcessive]

It appears to be wry neck. It can present as the neck hanging down, looking upward, or to the side. It can be a vitamin deficiency, from a head injury, or in old birds, a symptom of an infectious disease, such as Mareks or respiratory diseases. Treatment is vitamin E, thiamine (B1,) and the mineral selenium, found in cooked egg. Some chickens may also walk backwards or run in circles. Here is some reading for you:
https://www.fresheggsdaily.com/2014/04/preventing-and-treating-wry-neck-in.html

 

[rebrascora]

I'm afraid that sounds very much like it could be Marek's disease. Stress triggers outbreaks. Some will suddenly and miraculously recover, others will take longer to make a limited recovery or slowly decline. It can also cause quite sudden death. Neurological symptoms can be wry neck or wry tail or a dropped wing or lameness or even something as minor as being unable to keep one eyelid fully open

 

[sandesnow]

What does a Nova Scotian call extreme heat?

30C+ for the last month, not including the humidity index. =( It would be alright if the weather was dry, but the humidity has been unbearable.

I am doing a vitamin regiment (started that today, just in case of it being wry-neck) Merak's does cross my mind.

 

[sandesnow]

I also will add that it doesn't seem as severe with this one. I did her feed and she is able to eat on her own, where the other was not able at all. Not sure if the vitamin/electrolytes are helping her in that area, or if she is just stronger than the other chick.

 

[sandesnow]

A Question about Mareks, this chick, if I pick her up or stimulate her, like reaching into her little cage, she picks her head up and acts normal. Can walk around and all that as if nothing is wrong, but as soon as I let her be, she droops the head again, stretching it out at length.. Is this something that Mareks does? (I always thought that it was a paralyzing issue that comes and goes so that they had no control over it?)

Also thanks for the link on wry-neck, as the day goes on, I am seeing improvements with the vitamin regiment, which has me leaning towards wry-neck, (I am not eliminating anything at this point though, such as Mareks).

 

[sandesnow]

So.... Just to update this and some info for other people that may experience this.
Our severe heat was about 39*C (which we have been experiencing 35*C with a humidex of 39*C for those that don't understand Celsius, that is up to about 102*F) We have been sitting at about 85*F on the cool side (mornings) to the 100*F in the high temp of the day in our area. (4-6 pm)

This said, we have a fantastic Avian Specialist. We had everyone looked at. There was a simple solution, believe it or not. As these chicks were inside, they were constantly too warm. A fan directed into the brooder fixed our issue.

The chicks did not have Mareks OR wry neck, it was heat stress. In all the years I have had chickens, I have never seen heat stress actually play out.. meaning seen the symptoms from start to finish.

I honestly did not put my chicks out earlier as I was trying to protect them as they are fairly expensive chicks. (Cream Legbars) But inadvertently endangered them by not doing so. (I have other chicks that are mixes as well as some pure breed barred plymouth rocks, and they have been outdoors since they were 3 weeks old because it has been so hot!)