Chicken with Crooken neck. HELP!

[arkansaschicks]

Thank you and I will read both those links. My feed is all good. My chickens get Purina Layena and once a week get a mix of BOSS, calf manna and scratch. They also get extras such as fresh veggies, scrambled egg and occasional yogurt and cottage cheese. About the diseases, i did have a little respiratory thing go through my flock a month ago but my local state poultry commission ran tests and came out negative for about 5 things they tested for. This girl was not in that coop with the ones that were sick. She and a couple others have been separated in a breeder pen for a while.

 

[Goathead]

I have treated two chickens for wry neck in the last year and both have fully recovered. Both had twisted necks and would fall backwards. This last one I put in a metal container with some straw and a heat lamp up high enough that she didn't get too warm and kept her isolated in a small room in the basement. I kept it dark. I put about 1/2 cup unflavored pedialyte in a bowl, I squirted one 400 IU soft gel into the bowl and crumbled 25 mcg selenium into the bowl and added .5 ml of iron free Enfamil Poly-Vi-Sol. I mixed this as well as I could and put a small amount of this in another small bowl and added just enough chick starter to absorb the moisture. I fed her this throughout the day. At the beginning I left it pretty soupy and kind of dragged her beak through it to get her to start drinking/eating. As she progressed I made it a little thicker and she started pecking/eating on her own. It took about a week before I could return her to her "litter mates".

I think what happened to "Jade" is that I didn't get this group of chicks out soon enough. They had left the brooder put were stuck in a coop as we were finishing the run. I don't think they were getting enough fresh air, they weren't able to peck in the grass. I don't know if she had a head injury from being cooped up too long or if she wasn't getting enough vitamins from her chick starter. She was the only one of 6 who this happened to. I have a black, white crested polish who had her little white top hat attacked a few times and I thought this would happen to her but it didn't. I am thankful but...Go figure. The first time it happened to my red star I know it was a head injury and I treated her basically the same way. She continued to lay eggs as she healed. She never missed a day. She did stop using her laying box and would just lay it in the straw under her boxes.

Good luck with yours!

 

[arkansaschicks]

So do you think keeping her in a dark, isolated room was a key factor? I have been keeping my girl in a dog crate in the laundry room and it's not quiet and dark. . I also have been taking her outside and letting her hang out in the grass for a little bit each day. She seems to like hearing the sounds of her flock mates and does eat a little bit of the grass while she's out there. Do you think it's bad to take her outside? She just seems to be staying the same. At least she isn't getting worse!

 

[Goathead]

I think it helped to keep mine isolated and in a dark warm room just to keep her calm. At first she was so bad she would be tumbling and stumbling and that would upset her. When I kept her in the dark she would just tuck her head and hang out. When she got to where she was up and looking around I did like you and took her outside and let her eat and peck. I do think that is good for them. I guess we just have to be careful about over stimulating them when they are already upset. Here is a picture of Jade after a week of treatment. She was doing much better. She was standing on my foot and eating her medicated mush.