HELP PLEASE! 2 sick chicks!!

[StaciaLynne]

Please help!!

I have 2 chicks (1 is about 2 weeks old and one is about 4 weeks) that are suddenly tucking their heads down almost under their chest constantly. I've done some research and I can't figure out if it's wry neck or something worse... my husband thinks it's New Castle disease... I'm hoping he's wrong. Is there a way I can determine what this is without involving a vet?

The 2 week old just has a severely bent neck. It was eating fine and drinking water with no problem. Because the neck is so bent, there are issues with standing upright and seems to "trip" over the head sometimes with minor shaking.

The 4 week old has a bent neck and was literally running backwards and spinning around like an old wind up toy.

They were kept separate from each other at time of discovery and are not related. They seem to be the only ones effected out of all my birds. I've removed them from the other chickens just in case it's something more serious but am really hoping wry neck is the answer.

Thanks in advance for your help!!

 

[Fancychooklady]

Could be vitamin deficiency?? Get some poly visol without iron. You can buy it at the chemist.
Poor babies

 

[Michael Apple]

Sounds just like Encephalomalacia (crazy chick disease). It is caused by a vitamin E deficiency or spoiled feed. Get some Poultry Nutri Drench and give each chick one drop orally with a needleless syringe. Also, get some Vitamin-electrolyte powder like Sav-A-Chick or Avian Super Pack. I don't use Sav-A-Chick but know it is often available at feed stores. Do it 3 days a week. Do you have them on medicated or non-medicated feed?

 

[Noobchick]

Yes, sounds like a vitamin E defeciency to me. You can use the Poly-Vi-Sol WITHOUT iron or Nutri-Drench as recommended.

Another alternative is to buy Vitamin E gelcaps from the drug store. (400IU) Put a little of their food in a shallow bowl, moisten with a little water, then pierce one of the gelcaps with a knife and squeeze the liquid onto their food. Mix it up well. Do that twice a day. If it's a vitamin deficiency, they should show signs of improvement in a few days.

 

[loveourbirds]

just taking a stab in the dark here, are they silkies by chance?

 

[StaciaLynne]

Since I've posted this, I now have 4 small chicks and 2 older chicks that all seem to have the same issue. There are 4 Rhode Island Reds 1 Americana and 1 older Rhode Island Red. I have separated all of them from the rest of my flock.

Ok so I have purchased EVERYTHING that has been advised... I've been giving my chicks the Nutri Drench for about 3 days now as well as adding the Sav-a-chick to the water. One of the small chicks and one of the older chicks seem to be doing better. Their head is now almost completely up and they're not shaking their heads like they were before. The rest have improved some and I feel like the vitamins are working to solve the problem.

I've added the save-a-chick to all of my chicks water to try and prevent this from becoming any worse. Is there something I should be giving them right when they hatch so that I don't have to worry about this as much? I don't want to loose any of my babies

 

[loveourbirds]

sounds like your doing the right thing.

im not real familiar with this deficiency myself. the first place I would look is at the starter feed your using. it may not be complete.
if the problem keeps happening I looked up some sources for vitamin e. I cannot tell you how to dose them. once you offer your chicks grit you could offer some form of wheat and probably eliminate the problem.

this list is for humans, the percent DV will be different for chickens.

Table 2: Selected Food Sources of Vitamin E (Alpha-Tocopherol) [7]
Food Milligrams (mg)
per serving Percent DV*
Wheat germ oil, 1 tablespoon

20.3​

100​

Sunflower seeds, dry roasted, 1 ounce

7.4​

37​

Almonds, dry roasted, 1 ounce

6.8​

34​

Sunflower oil, 1 tablespoon

5.6​

28​

Safflower oil, 1 tablespoon

4.6​

25​

Hazelnuts, dry roasted, 1 ounce

4.3​

22​

Peanut butter, 2 tablespoons

2.9​

15​

Peanuts, dry roasted, 1 ounce

2.2​

11​

Corn oil, 1 tablespoon

1.9​

10​

Spinach, boiled, ½ cup

1.9​

10​

Broccoli, chopped, boiled, ½ cup

1.2​

6​

Soybean oil, 1 tablespoon

1.1​

6​

Kiwifruit, 1 medium

1.1​

6​

Mango, sliced, ½ cup

0.7​

4​

Tomato, raw, 1 medium

0.7​

4​

Spinach, raw, 1 cup

0.6​

3​

someone who has dealt with the problem will probably have more or better advice.

 

[Fancychooklady]

I hope you manage to get on top of this! I'd change your food source, look at the water as well .
What are you using as feed and water containers. What type of bedding are they in? Oh poor you, the possibilities are endless! I guess what I am saying is if it isn't a vitamin deficiency , or disease , it could be environmental !
Keep researching and keep us posted.

 

[StaciaLynne]

My chicks are on starter feed that we purchase from a reputable feed store... their feed containers are changed daily so I don't think it's an issue with their food... the water is in the plastic chick feeders and is also changed regularly (sometimes twice a day if they get a lot of bedding in it) ... recently I've added the save a chick stuff to hopefully prevent them from coming down with whatever this is...

The pen itself is home made... wood bottom when they're younger with a wood surround frame with newspapers covering the base and covered with a tarp to keep the heat from the heat lights in. This is changed daily as well. When they're older they are moved to a larger wood surround with a concrete floor and pine shavings. The pine is changed every 3 days and the floor is scrubbed clean.

I try very hard to take care of my birds so I really don't understand what is going on... Ugh! It's so frustrating.

On the plus side, all the smaller birds seem to be getting much better... the one older bird still seems to have the neck issue with the head shaking... I'm hoping that it might just take an extra day or two because she's older and larger...

Thanks everyone for your help and advice. I really am puzzled and you've helped me a lot.

 

[The Sheriff]

If you are feeding medicated chick starter, it might have too much amprolium in it. Amprolium in larger quantities can cause a thiamine deficiency leading to wry neck. I spoke with the vet at UCDavis School of Veterinary Medicine and she told me about some feed having too much Amprolium in it. I had a cheap brand of feed and out of seven chicks, four had wry neck within a few days. I tossed the cheap feed, bought unmedicated feed to use to use until they were well again, then restarted them on Purina Medicated.

To correct the wry neck I gave them drops of Poly-vi-Sol without iron. I also poked a hole in a Vitamin E capsule and squeezed a little bit into their beaks. I added selenium as well by grinding a capsule and dissolving in a bit of water. I fed them a small amount of the selenium by eye dropper. I did this twice a day for all seven chicks, even the ones not displaying symptoms. They recovered quickly. No more cheap feed for my birds.



There is a video on my blog and directions here> http://www.bucknrunranch.com/blog/2011/11/02/wry-neck-in-baby-chick-video/

I changed my technique a bit by the time I shot this video and it is probably simpler this way. Good luck!