Hi - I am new to this site (as a member) but found it a few weeks ago when I ran into my first problem with the new chicks I had bought. I am also new to chick ownership. Anyway, after buying and reading every book in bookstores and every on-line thing I could find I still couldn't find an answer to my problem. I have joined this site because it was so helpful in so many ways so I thought I would share my experience with Ruth with everyone else. I bought my first 4 black sex links in April and have had no problem. A month later I was having so much fun at chick ownership I bought 5 (supposedly Auracaunas which I now know are Easter Eggers at best). After about 4 weeks the one I thought was so cute and quiet and bashful and sleepy - would quietly walk up to feed dish and eat - was found laying on the floor of the pen and the others were just trampling all over her. She wasn't moving and my husband proclaimed her dead. After I took her out and examined her I saw she was still breathing. For those old Monty Python fans - he declared her "mostly dead" and said he would "take care of her in the morning if she was still breathing". Anyway - my theory is "Nothing dies on my watch". So here's what I did. First, since she was barely breathing I began dropping a watery milk solution straight down her throat with a medicine dropper. I did that every few hours till she could sit up. Slowly I made it more of a watery mush, mixed with cheese, cat food, egg yolk and anything else of high protein content that I could blend, mix, melt in microwave and drop down her throat. I know you are all going to tell me about the dangers of drowning her but I had nothing to lose since she was desparately trying to die and I just was not going to let her. She eventually began to open her mouth for the food like a baby bird would do. When she regained strength I found that she could not walk, could only spin in circles, feet and legs paralyzed and head twisted to left in horrible S shape and would fall asleep in a heartbeat. Still I would not let her die. Kept her isolated in her own little bin inside with heat lamp and kept up the food. I also fed her a vitamin E capsule each day. Eventually she began to eat on her own and with a serious appetite. She dove at the pieces of cat food in her bowl (mixed with milk and egg yolk) and ate like a vulture. It was day after day of this routine. She would only eat if I held her and held the food mix to her. Today it's been about 4 weeks and I'm happy to say that Ruth is very much alive and well, is a pet, comes when called, runs up my legs to get on my shoulder, and is now in the new coop/run that we have recently built with the rest of the flock. She even has claimed dominance over 3 of her fellow hatchlings and actually runs up and chest butts them and chases them away even though, at 8 weeks, she is one-fourth their size. I'm attaching pictures of Ruth who is a true survivor.
Ruth's neck is almost straight but I continue to massage it each day as I've done from the beginning. Her body feathers are just starting to come in and her wings are much bigger than her body but she is growing and doing well. I still isolate her for feedings because she is still a slow and delicate eater and still eats much better if I hold her. I feed all the chickens cheese, tomatoes, lettuce and other goodies twice a day. They really come running when they see me. I'm posting this lengthy response in the hopes that anyone else looking for help on twisted neck, paraylized legs, sleeping chickens will be able to use my experience. I'm believing that it is a vitamin deficiency of some sort or a disease that TLC can see them through. I'm also a devout believer in God and the power of prayer and that He cares for all of his creatures.
Ruth's neck is almost straight but I continue to massage it each day as I've done from the beginning. Her body feathers are just starting to come in and her wings are much bigger than her body but she is growing and doing well. I still isolate her for feedings because she is still a slow and delicate eater and still eats much better if I hold her. I feed all the chickens cheese, tomatoes, lettuce and other goodies twice a day. They really come running when they see me. I'm posting this lengthy response in the hopes that anyone else looking for help on twisted neck, paraylized legs, sleeping chickens will be able to use my experience. I'm believing that it is a vitamin deficiency of some sort or a disease that TLC can see them through. I'm also a devout believer in God and the power of prayer and that He cares for all of his creatures.
