chicken with head tilt

[pibblemama]

Went out tonight to get something from the coop and found one of my barred rocks on the floor with her head tilted to the side and seeming unable to hold it in a normal position. She doesn't appear sick, no discharge,her neck didn't seem to be hurting her when we felt for injury. She also did a little bit of circling. Any ideas of what this could be? I don't know how old she is, I adopted her within the last year, but she is probably middle age. Any ideas would be appreciated.

 

[JerseyHen]

I just recently had a hen like that. Her neck was all twisted and she seemed unable to eat and drink properly and could not get herself on a roost. I brought her in, gave her a vitamin/elecrolyte supplement, because I was not sure how long she had gone without water/food and then coaxed her to eat a little at a time. I did the vitamin/electrolyte mix for 2 days then added in vitamin E, and she started to recover. It took several additional days for her to be back in the coop. I suspect that in my hens case she was being bullied away from the food/water and developed a nutritional deficiency or the over aggressive rooster that I have in there at the moment damaged her neck while mating.

There are a number of reasons for wry neck, injury, malnutrition, infection, etc... I would quarantine for now and start the vitamins and hydration (that can't hurt in any case). In the mean time, perhaps someone with more knowledge than I will chime in.

 

[SpringFarmChick]

I had a hen that was limping on the left side, then progressed to being immobile. I brought her in the house and gave her electrolytes and colloidal silver. She began to eat and seemed to recover. I let her back with the flock for one day, but her right eye seemed to bother her. Now she is back in the house, with her neck all twisted to the right, right eye closed, and lying on her side again. I'm pretty sure with my hen it is Marek's disease. I'm still giving her electrolytes and colloidal silver. She is still alive. The disease seemed in her case to progress from one side to the other. I'm not sure she will make it. The twisted neck looks very disturbing.

 

[JerseyHen]

I had a hen that was limping on the left side, then progressed to being immobile. I brought her in the house and gave her electrolytes and colloidal silver. She began to eat and seemed to recover. I let her back with the flock for one day, but her right eye seemed to bother her. Now she is back in the house, with her neck all twisted to the right, right eye closed, and lying on her side again. I'm pretty sure with my hen it is Marek's disease. I'm still giving her electrolytes and colloidal silver. She is still alive. The disease seemed in her case to progress from one side to the other. I'm not sure she will make it. The twisted neck looks very disturbing.

That does sound like Marek's, especially with the lameness and the eye findings. Could also be lymphoid leukosis. Here is a great thread on wry neck in chickens: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/97121/lets-talk-wry-neck-crook-neck

 

[pibblemama]

She seemed much better today but then tonight she's back to doing it worse than last night. And it's not just a tilt. She has her head almost upside down. That's how she's sleeping. She almost seems to be having trouble controlling it and makes a lot of weird movements. Another factor I forgot to mention is that we just had 2 roosters added to our flock

so I don't know if they're the cause of some sort of trauma?

 

[JerseyHen]

The one I had was so bad my husband started calling it Linda (as in Linda Blair who played the obsessed kid in the exorcist). You will have to help her eat and dropper feed her liquids with vitamins in it. i found that if I put my fingers on the side of her head she would correct a little. I also found that if I dropped the feed on the floor she had an easier time of it. I think my young rooster grabbed mine too hard by the neck and caused some temporary nerve damage. Regardless of what is causing it, if she doesn't eat and drink she will not make it.