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

[Eggcessive]

Yes, I just saw it. I live near you, but I don’t know anyone that has had Mareks. Wry neck is not a problem only seen in chicks, and she is not too old for it. As said before, but it is sometimes seen in Mareks disease and some other diseases. Your vet may be referring to the wry neck seen in baby chicks born with it, usually from vitamin deficiency or heredity.

Clavamox is a really good antibiotic for ear infection, wounds, and reproductive disorders. Tylan is best for mycoplasma respiratory infection, and enteritis, a gut infection.

I agree with @azygous in that she may have somme serious infection, but Mareks could also be possible. The best you can do is to keep supporting her, and get a necropsy through your state vet if she dies. Her body needs to be kept refrigerated, but not frozen, to take her in or ship overnight to the WV dept of agriculture. Here is a link to contacting the state vet:
http://www.metzerfarms.com/PoultryLabs.cfm

Aquarium tubing from Walmart, about $3 is available to connect with your large syringe to tube feed. A 10-12 inch section should be cut, and take a lighter to soften the sharp edges that go into the throat.

 

[mommaschicklets]

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.

Yes, the vet did examine her and took her weight and temp. Said all looked normal. I'll call back and ask about doing a gram stain. Thanks!

 

[mommaschicklets]

Yes, I just saw it. I live near you, but I don’t know anyone that has had Mareks. Wry neck is not a problem only seen in chicks, and she is not too old for it. As said before, but it is sometimes seen in Mareks disease and some other diseases. Your vet may be referring to the wry neck seen in baby chicks born with it, usually from vitamin deficiency or heredity.

Clavamox is a really good antibiotic for ear infection, wounds, and reproductive disorders. Tylan is best for mycoplasma respiratory infection, and enteritis, a gut infection.

I agree with @azygous in that she may have somme serious infection, but Mareks could also be possible. The best you can do is to keep supporting her, and get a necropsy through your state vet if she dies. Her body needs to be kept refrigerated, but not frozen, to take her in or ship overnight to the WV dept of agriculture. Here is a link to contacting the state vet:
http://www.metzerfarms.com/PoultryLabs.cfm

Aquarium tubing from Walmart, about $3 is available to connect with your large syringe to tube feed. A 10-12 inch section should be cut, and take a lighter to soften the sharp edges that go into the throat.

How far away are you? Would you be interested in assisting me to tube feed once?

 

[sylviethecochin]

Dosage (again, from the merck vet manual)

In otherwise adequate diets, deficiency is prevented by supplements of thiamine up to 4 mg/kg.

Since she's already suffering a deficiency, you might want to double or triple that; b1 dissolves in water and so leaves the body quickly. There is little risk of overdose.

 

[mommaschicklets]

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....

What is your experience with older chickens and Wry Neck? Were they as bad as mine and did they get better? If so how exactly did you treat and how long before they showed improvement/ recovery?

 

[mommaschicklets]

Dosage (again, from the merck vet manual)

In otherwise adequate diets, deficiency is prevented by supplements of thiamine up to 4 mg/kg.

Since she's already suffering a deficiency, you might want to double or triple that; b1 dissolves in water and so leaves the body quickly. There is little risk of overdose.

Do I buy thiamine separate?

 

[azygous]

You can obtain thiamine by buying vitamin B-1 or by buying vitamin B-complex.

 

[mommaschicklets]

What would cause her to act like this and have swollen eyes? Could she have Coryza and Wry Neck?

 

[azygous]

Lots of things can make a chicken sick. And from this vantage point, that's about all we can tell you - your hen is quite sick.

Precisely what's making her sick is something that would require that bacterial stain test. It could tell us what bacteria is making her sick. However, the fact that she's showing neurological symptoms with her wry neck could indicate a botulism toxin. How she encountered that would require you to think back on where your hen had been ranging and what she might have encountered. Usually, botulism toxin thrives in anaerobic conditions, so the bottom of a compost pile is a likely source. Sometimes insects inhabiting the dank and damp and slimy layers of soil deep enough to escape air circulation are infected with the toxin and if a chicken scratches them up and eats them, she will get sick very quickly.

The fact that you took her to the vet right away and was started on a good antibiotic immediately has probably saved her life if this toxin is what made her sick. Just keep doing what the vet told you to do and keep up with the B vitamins (I'd go with the B-complex to address neurological damage) and the E 400iu and this could help repair the damage. Your hen could make a dramatic recovery or she could die by morning. It's up to her now.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

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)?

I think maybe her eyelids are swollen but I'm not sure.

The eyes look swollen to me in the last video.

I am not sure what is causing the eye swelling along with a symptom of Wry Neck. To me, your hen is very ill.
In your video, you mention that she has dried up feed inside her beak. Are you sure what you are seeing is dried up feed - look again.

I would not try to double/triple vitamins, go with 400IU vitamin E. You are giving PolyviSol, that contains b-vitamins (including B1) so either stick the Polyvisol or give her 1/4 tablet B-Complex. Your Katee baby bird formula also have some b - vitamins too.