Chicken with neck problem

[RodNTN]

I’ll tell you the story of Mel. Mel exhibits the symptoms you describe as far as I can tell.
Mel’s mum is called Ruffles, Mel, Ruffles and Mel’s brother are the chickens in my avatar.
Ruffles was six and half years old when she decided to sit. She had hatched two chicks before when she was about one and half years old and was a terrible mother.
Being six and a half, like many hens of this age the eggs she laid were thin shelled. This apparently is common as hens get older. She chose to sit in the egg box in my house and out of the 9 original eggs by day 17 she had broken 5. Cleaning egg from the underside of a hen is very difficult and despite my best efforts and her dust bathing her underside would become slightly sticky while she sat.
I moved her to a special coop that is situated outside my house on the evening of day 17. This coop allows the hen and chicks immediate access to natural ground as soon as the chicks are mobile and mum leaves the nest.
On day twenty Ruffles broke another egg mainly due to problems getting the eggs in the right position for hatching because they had a tendency to stick to her rather than roll. I couldn’t do much about the breakage without disturbing the remaining eggs and risking hatching problems due to incorrect orientation. Ruffles hatched the remaining three during day twenty one. One chick didn’t make it and later on examining the nest it looked as if this chick had zipped upside down. Mel did hatch successfully along with her brother but a large portion of Mel’s egg shell was stuck to the underside of her mum Ruffles.
Both seemed fine apart from Mel had this peculiar habit when she was a chick of jumping onto my lap and falling asleep with her head on her back and beak pointing upwards. Of course, this meant she became unstable and would start to roll off my lap causing her to wake immediately and adjust her position.
Here she is doing as described above on the floor.
View attachment 1589035

View attachment 1589036
Mel grew up to be an extraordinarily affectionate pullet but from time to time she would break her stride, stick her head over her back and walk backwards a couple of steps. It’s all over very quickly and she’s back to normal in a couple of seconds.

Apart from this behavior she is very healthy, but she will tolerate handling by me more than any other hen here.
At about one and half years old Mel sat and hatched a daughter, Treacle.
Mel and her daughter got attacked by a Goshawk and she fought the hawk and survived saving her daughter in the process.
Her story is told here.
Is it better to let them die?
Mel is still alive today but every now and then she does the backward walk with her head over her back.
It’s my belief that Mel was stuck to the underside of her mother Ruffles when she hatched and may have sustained some neurological damage.
I don’t want to interfere with all the great advice you are getting but if Bibbi does have similar symptoms then neurological damage seems a possibility you may want to consider.

Maybe it is neurological, anything is possible. She is very curious, so maybe she injured her head

 

[casportpony]

Maybe it is neurological, anything is possible. She is very curious, so maybe she injured her head

Before I even knew there was such a thing as wry neck I had a hen get it. I did not know I should give vitamins, so I just tube fed her and she eventually recovered, though she did end up with a slight tilt, lol.

 

[casportpony]

Okay, so B12 won't do any good? Is the E d-alpha still good to use?

Read this:
http://www.poultrydvm.com/condition/thiamin-deficiency
That's what I read before I decided to treat my chicks. I gave the complex by injection, but you could give it orally too.

 

[RodNTN]

Before I even knew there was such a thing as wry neck I had a hen get it. I did not know I should give vitamins, so I just tube fed her and she eventually recovered, though she did end up with a slight til tilt, lol.

Read this:
http://www.poultrydvm.com/condition/thiamin-deficiency
That's what I read before I decided to treat my chicks. I gave the complex by injection, but you could give it orally too.

Thank you! I'll read it So hopefully Bibby stands a chance!

 

[RodNTN]

So, can I still give her the E d-alpha?

 

[casportpony]

So, can I still give her the E d-alpha?

What is it?

 

[RodNTN]

What is it?

I just picked up some vitamin E pills this morning:
https://supplementowl.ulprospector..../VITAMIN-E-d-alpha-SUPPLEMENT-670-mg-60-Count

 

[Eggcessive]

Okay, I'm back with the vitamins. I just picked up some Spring Valley fast-dissolve B-12 5000 mcg supplement.
As for the vitamin E I just got some vitamin E d-alpha 670 mg supplement.
Should I crush up a whole pill? Or half of it? Also, do I give them both at the same time? Or do I give one in the morning and one in the evening?

Just take those back if you can, and get vitamin E 400 IU and Vitamin B complex which has most of the B’s including thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, and others. The mg can vary on the vitamin E, but look for 400 IU.

 

[casportpony]

I just picked up some vitamin E pills this morning:
https://supplementowl.ulprospector..../VITAMIN-E-d-alpha-SUPPLEMENT-670-mg-60-Count

I think that's fine.

 

[RodNTN]

Just take those back if you can, and get vitamin E 400 IU and Vitamin B complex which has most of the B’s including thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, and others. The mg can vary on the vitamin E, but look for 400 IU.

So, I need to get Spring Valley Sublingual liquid B complex w/B12?
https://www.walmart.com/ip/2-Pack-S...al-Liquid-with-B12-59-Doses-2-Fl-Oz/667982032

And Nature Made E vitamin 180 mg 400 IU:
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Nature-Made-Natural-Vitamin-E-400-I-U-d-Alpha/16935605