comatose, limber twisted neck, random head shaking, unable to eat, Help Please! VIDEOS & PICTURES AD

[Wyorp Rock]

2 year old RIR hen, 4 lbs

standing alone head down

find her limber necked, head hanging with random bouts of shaking her head out of control.

Vet prescribed antibiotics for possible ear infection and gave her a 50% chance of survival. We also began syringe feeding

weekend of antibiotics and syringe feeding with no change

Her poo is white and green

exact baby parrot food mixed with her calvamox, water, milk for calcium, 5 drops totaling 45mg vitamin e and a pinch of crushed selenium tab 100mg, and 1/4 to 1\2 dropper (1ml) poly vi sol minus iron

The poor thing, she is not doing well, I'm so sorry

You vet prescribed antibiotics for a possible ear infection - does she have pus or anything crusty inside the ears?
In your photo - it's hard to tell with the eye closed, but is there pus in the eye, is the tissue around the eye puffy? Swelling of the ear and what is on her wattle, is it just dirt or is there a bad spot on it?
Does she have any respiratory symptoms?
Any plaques/lesions or canker inside the beak?

Where are you located in the world (state/country)?

I agree with @Eggcessive some of the symptoms you describe and in the video look like Wry Neck, but that is just a symptom - figuring out the cause would be key. Did you vet do any testing on the poop or a gram stain.

All you can do is try to keep her hydrated, tubing fluids if you need to. See if she improves with the course of prescribed antibiotics. Personally I would ditch the milk and selenium. Increase the vitamin E to 400iu and give a very small amount of polyvisol. The Katee baby bird feed is fine.

Since she is under vet care, you may need to re-consult with them to see if there are any contraindications of what you are giving along with the Clavamox or if there is any other testing they can perform.

I'm so sorry, I hope you see improvement soon, if not, then consider how much more time you will give her and make plans to end her suffering.

 

[Eggcessive]

For her wry neck I would continue giving her vitamin E 400 IU, thiamine which most vitamins contain, and selenium is not really needed in large amounts. That can be given in foods such as a small amount of egg. Too much selenium is bad.

 

[mommaschicklets]

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjxCqmpEu6Tz3SiTk4juRQw?view_as=subscriber
here are videos of her behavior! finally figured out how to get them on here... thank you!

She is kinda in a coma. Head hangs always unless she shakes it uncontrollably. She will rest it on the floor with her butt up against a wall in the box or once in a while sit like a duck with her head sunken in the middle of her breast (this looks most normal). She also twists it backwards almost. Not normal at all. She never opens her eyes unless I accidentally choke her or aspirate her and she is in distress.
Not laying eggs currently. Unsure when she layed last.
Her crop feels empty, I fear she is losing weight. She weighed 4lbs last Friday and her vent was clean and clear. I will check her vent again when I wake her to feed shortly.
We did offer scrambled eggs last Saturday but she didn't respond to them at all or offer to eat or drink on her own.
No new additions to the flock in nearly 2 years. However, last summer my son let on hen who loved to sit keep 3 eggs. Two of them ended up hatching last August. No problems with them.

 

[Eggcessive]

Thanks for magnifying the picture @Wyorp Rock. It does appear that she could have some pus or film inside her right eye.

 

[azygous]

Sorry, late to the party again. From those videos, I get the sense this hen has a serious infection, causing her to be very lethargic and it seems she's fading. I'd keep up with the antibiotic and finish the complete regimen as the vet prescribed. Continuing the E and B-1 is also a good idea.

With this hen in this semi-conscious condition, you need to tube her to get liquids into her safely and also medicine efficiently. I was given some discarded oxygen tubing from someone who needs oxygen at night and has to change the tubing regularly. It's soft and the right size and free. I found that some of the fittings also work to help in guiding the syringe into the tubing. Ask your parents or grandparents if they know anyone who uses oxygen and is throwing out some tubing.

Or you can ask your vet to sell you what you need. Mine sold me a catheter and syringe for $3.

Did the vet give the hen an all over exam? Checked crop fullness? Checked for swollen abdomen? A fecal float test would also be able to rule out some issues, and including a gram stain can identify the bacteria at work here, making it more possible to target the illness with the correct antibiotic. You might want to discus this with your vet.

 

[Bamabexchicks]

Sorry, late to the party again. From those videos, I get the sense this hen has a serious infection, causing her to be very lethargic and it seems she's fading. I'd keep up with the antibiotic and finish the complete regimen as the vet prescribed. Continuing the E and B-1 is also a good idea.

With this hen in this semi-conscious condition, you need to tube her to get liquids into her safely and also medicine efficiently. I was given some discarded oxygen tubing from someone who needs oxygen at night and has to change the tubing regularly. It's soft and the right size and free. I found that some of the fittings also work to help in guiding the syringe into the tubing. Ask your parents or grandparents if they know anyone who uses oxygen and is throwing out some tubing.

Or you can ask your vet to sell you what you need. Mine sold me a catheter and syringe for $3.

Did the vet give the hen an all over exam? Checked crop fullness? Checked for swollen abdomen? A fecal float test would also be able to rule out some issues, and including a gram stain can identify the bacteria at work here, making it more possible to target the illness with the correct antibiotic. You might want to discus this with your vet.

X2! Aspiration is a big problem and she is not swallowing well enough to avoid it.

 

[mommaschicklets]

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjxCqmpEu6Tz3SiTk4juRQw

I just added another video showing her ears and eyes.

 

[mommaschicklets]

I feel like her eyes and ears are clear of puss. Beak looks normal inside. We are located in central West Virginia. Sometimes I can get her in a good position where I wait for her to breath then squirt a little food and vitamins in her and she swallows with ease and peacefully. Other times I don't time it right and she fights. She does beak breath a few times after distress but not always and that didn't start until I aspirated her. She faded some then came back. The vet said the clavamox would treat her for pneumonia if it occurred. She only has 2 doses of clavamox left. I don't have funds to continue to run to the vet. I saw someone or two recommend tylan for chickens as an antibiotic at a feed store. Should I start her on that? They said their chicken didn't respond to some other antibiotics but did to the tylan. What can I give her that contains B-1? Is the 0.5 mg/mL of Thiamin enough per day (in the poly vi sol)?
The vet didn't run any tests just treated for ear infection. She called me back a few days later after I called in due to aspirating her and was asking about tube feeding and Wry Neck.... She said she didn't think it was Wry Neck because she is too old (2 years) but thought it was a vitamin deficiency and told me to continue the vitamins I had her on along with the clavamox and baby food... I aspirated her on baby food so when I saw someone else recommend baby parrot food I switched to it. She didn't want me to tube feed because of the aspiration risk.
I discontinued the selenium and milk today and increased the E vitamin. Mixing all with water and back to Gatorade now.

I haven't seen any other videos of chickens like her but have read some posts about Wry Neck that sounded like her condition. Some say they improve in 2 days, some say as long as week..... Tuesday will be a week from starting the vitamins.... Should we put her down if she isn't better in a week? I read other posts refering to supportave care for two months then being able to return to the flock but not sure what they were treating for....
Thank you so much! All help is appreciated!

 

[mommaschicklets]

You're Original Poster. OP.

As for the vet... well, Merck vet manual disagrees with her, and so does my experience. That's best treated with B1, by the way. How much are you administering?

"Polyneuritis may be seen in mature birds ~3 wk after they are fed a thiamine-deficient diet. As the deficiency progresses, birds may sit on flexed legs and draw back their heads in a star-gazing position. Retraction of the head is due to paralysis of the anterior neck muscles. Soon after this stage, chickens lose the ability to stand or sit upright and topple to the floor, where they may lie with heads still retracted. Thiamine deficiency may also lead to a decrease in body temperature and respiratory rate. Testicular degeneration may be noted, and the heart may show slight atrophy. Birds consuming a thiamine-deficient diet soon show severe anorexia. They lose all interest in feed and will not resume eating unless given thiamine. If a severe deficiency has developed, thiamine must be force-fed or injected to induce the chickens to resume eating."--
Vitamin Deficiencies in Poultry By
Steven Leeson, PhD, University of Guelph


EDT: quotey-marks.

Do you know how much thiamine I should be getting down her a day? Its in the poly vi sol but a very low dose....

 

[mommaschicklets]

Oh, the videos help a lot. She appears to keep her eyes closed all of the time. Are her eyelids swollen at all? She can stand, and when she was being held she did move her legs when she spit out the food. And yes, that is true wry neck (torticolis.)

I worry that she has something pretty serious, such as Mareks disease. What state are you in? That would help to know if you are near any Newcastles outbreak, which has been report in a few places in California. Will she eat watery feed for you in her hold it and touch her beak to the bowl? It can be dangerous to syringe feed her sicne they can choke to death easily. Tube feeding is much easier and quicker. Aquarium air tubing can be used as a feeding tube if you are intersted in learning.

Thank you so much! Did you see my last video showing her eyes and ears? Yes, she stands well and fights strongly with her feet... I think maybe her eyelids are swollen but I'm not sure. You may be more familiar and know if you see the last video I added... She wont even offer to open her beak when offered food in a dish. I'm totally interested in learning to tube feed! I'm nervous though, was hoping the vet would have encouraged me and offered to show me.... I tried to get my old partner (paramedic) to help me but he just wanted to fry her!!! grrrrrr.....
We live just outside of South Charleston, WV... Do you know if there are outbreaks in this area?
Thanks!!!!!!!!!!