"Gooseneck" in chicken- no motor control

[Cknldy]

I'm in need of some suggestions please- one of my buff orpington pullets, 24 weeks and not yet laying, suddenly droops her neck and seems barely able to lift it. She was puffed up unhappy 2 days ago with a turn of cold weather but otherwise normal. She gets flockraiser and plenty of water, grit, ashes to dust in, no oyster shell yet since they aren't laying yet. About 5 days ago I gave all of the chickens crawfish (family didn't like them and I figured I'd try it) and the shells of crab legs. That could be irrelevant since they ran from the crawfish;-) This morning her neck was like a goose neck- limply hanging although she walks around the coop. I felt for anything possibly stuck in the throat, clear. I felt all the neck bones and all are in line, no problems there. Neck IS very thin. Her crop is empty so she has not ate or even drank recently. Looked down her throat and saw nothing that shouldn't be. However there seems to be a small lump directly under the beak. When she makes noises of course it bulges so that may be a normal thing. I researched Newcastle, AI and the such but those don't fit because nothing else is 'paralyzed'. I couldn't get her to eat or drink but when put in the house of the isolation pen she jumps back out to be in the run. Any suggestions? I chose just 6 chickens to keep and now she goes wonky on me!

 

[Eggcessive]

A picture may help. Wry neck or torticolis is more of a muscle spasm, but she sounds more like she has limberneck which is a symptom for what she seems to have, that can be seen in wry neck, Mareks, and botulism. Does he neck twist to the side also? Was she vaccinated for Mareks disease? In botulism, you can see limberneck after the legs and wings become paralyzed, but since she is walking around, I would doubt that it is that. In Mareks disease the neck can become paralyzed, but I would think there might be leg or wing paralysis first. Right now I would treat her for wry neck with vitamin B1, vitamin E, and selenium (found in eggs, and chopped nuts.) Poultry vitamins such as Poultry Nutri-Drench and Poultry Cell, or powders for the water contain what she needs. Keep her in a quiet area with not a lot of stimulation, and keep food and water close. You may need to help her eat. Here is some info on Mareks, botulism, and wry neck:
http://www.browneggblueegg.com/Article/Crookneck/Crookneck.html
http://oureggbasket.blogspot.com/2013/04/wry-neck-or-crook-neck-understanding-it.html
http://www.thepoultrysite.com/diseaseinfo/19/botulism
http://partnersah.vet.cornell.edu/avian-atlas/#/disease/Marek's_Disease
http://extension.unh.edu/resources/files/Resource000791_Rep813.pdf
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/the-great-big-giant-mareks-disease-faq

 

[Cknldy]

Limberneck would be the perfect word for it! Botulism- hmmm. It came up in the search too. I'm going to go clean out any crawfish bodies/claws still in the coops just in case. Although the chickens ran from them when I tossed them in they may have pecked at them out of curiosity later. Thank you!

 

[Cknldy]

Update- went out to check on her at noon. She is perfectly grand! No sign that anything at all went on this morning I am hoping that it was just a passing spell of botulism/ food poisoning from the crawfish/crab leg shells. Will be keeping an eye on her though. If anyone has had something like this happen with their chickens I'd like to hear what you think may have happened with yours and what the outcome was. Thanks