Crooked neck on chick

[thornoelle]

I have 6 silkies that are 4 weeks old. I just noticed over the last week that one of them has a really strange and crooked neck. She keeps her head to the side and when I feel her neck I can feel all the bones sticking way out on the other side. So far she is doing fine and is the same size as the other chicks. No one is picking on her that I have noticed and she is eating and drinking. What do you think about her chances of survival? Will she be OK? Is there anything I should be doing? Any advice would be helpful. I can post a pic tomorrow when I take some if that would help. Thanks!

 

[thornoelle]

Here are some pics of her. I gave the girls a treat of mealworms today for the first time and I noticed that she actually seems to be one of the more dominant ones.

I hope that she will be ok.

 

[jimnjay]

I believe you chick has wry neck. It is not uncommon in Silkies and is most often caused by a sever vitamine deficiency. You can treat it by giving childrens polyvisol vitamins. Or better yet find some Vit E with Selinium and puncture a capsule and squeeze into the chicks beak. Some also massage the neck while the treatment goes on. It most likely will clear up in 7-10 days. Some will revent to the bent neck stance when stressed as they mature.

 

[thornoelle]

Wow! Thank you very much! How would she get this? I feed them free feed of medicated started food. I will start giving her polyvisol right away. How much do I give her and how often? Should I change brands of chicken food? I haven't given them anything else to eat except what they get in their run. For the first time today I gave them some mealworms which they all loved.