Help please. Chick folding its head underitself, running backwards

[Stiggy]

Hi guys so I have a bit of a problem. I have one chick who was perfectly healthy yesterday, but now is tucking its head underneath itself, when it moves it runs backwards and falls over. It also seems to sleep a lot, well it looks like its sleeping. My other 63 chicks are fine, and not showing this, they are all on chick starter crumbles with a coccido stat included, and have a multi B vit in their water.
I don't know whats going on or what has happened. I am going to give it a multi vit now and separate it for a while so the others cannot hurt it. here are some pictures


any help would be much appreciated

 

[scratch'n'peck]

Hmm... it sounds like wry neck kind of, which is a neurological condition. I have so far only read about treatment for adult chickens. I think the multi vit and separation are good to try. Silkie chickens and other chickens with crests can be more susceptible due to their vaulted skulls. vitamins are often recommended for them. I know this isn't much help, but perhaps you can do a search on wry neck in chicks to come up with more. I hope the situation improves.

 

[Suzie]

You may well have Marmite in New Zealand...the chick would benefit from Vitamin B...does sound like wry neck..it can take quite some time to get back to normal health...but Vitamin B is excellent for this condition...as are eggs, fish etc...anything high in Vitamin B may be beneficial to help.

 

[Stiggy]

thanks guys, yes I do believe its wry neck, and I have given it and everyone else some multi vit ( crushed up tablet that's been put into their water) . they get a b vitamin tablet in their water each day to make sure that they get enough.

 

[Eggcessive]

The vitamins that are most important in treating wry neck or encephalomalcia, are vitamin B1 (thiamine,) vitamin E, and selenium. It's the last 2 which are most important. Eggs, canned tuna, and ground Brazil nuts and sunflower seeds contain selenium. Sometimes rancid fat in the feed can be a cause. Here are a couple of good links to read:
http://partnersah.vet.cornell.edu/avian-atlas/node/600
http://www.browneggblueegg.com/Article/Crookneck/Crookneck.html

 

[Stiggy]

Thanks I will look into it. Is there a reason that it happens to only one? ( not that im saying I want them all to do that)

 

[Stiggy]

Well I went down to the supermarket and got a bottle of selenium tablets with vit e, a, and c ( didn't have just vit e) and I crushed up one tablet into a powder and kneeded it into a small slice of dog roll to give to them. The affected chick will get some crumble and tablet mixed via a syringe so that I know that they have all had some.

 

[Eggcessive]

I sure hope it helps Stiggy. Do you think the feed could be related to any of this or the leg problems in the other chick? What do you feed in New Zealand--is there a lot of choice in feeds? We are limited to only 2 brands here, and apparently vitamins can leach out if it sets on the shelf awhile. I have heard of others who use pricey organic feeds that don't move very fast on the shelf, have had problems with vitamin loss. We have water soluble poultry vitamins here that are easily added to the water, and I will put some in every couple of days, just to make sure. I remember you saying there isn't a lot available where you live as far as poultry supplies.

 

[scratch'n'peck]

Thanks I will look into it. Is there a reason that it happens to only one? ( not that im saying I want them all to do that)

From what I have read it seems like the cause of wry neck can be an interaction of various factors like congenital issues (like the vaulted skull), diet (lack of vitamins or exposure to toxins) or an injury to the head. So maybe your little chick was more susceptible from birth or perhaps it had a bump to the head.

 

[Stiggy]

I sure hope it helps Stiggy. Do you think the feed could be related to any of this or the leg problems in the other chick? What do you feed in New Zealand--is there a lot of choice in feeds? We are limited to only 2 brands here, and apparently vitamins can leach out if it sets on the shelf awhile. I have heard of others who use pricey organic feeds that don't move very fast on the shelf, have had problems with vitamin loss. We have water soluble poultry vitamins here that are easily added to the water, and I will put some in every couple of days, just to make sure. I remember you saying there isn't a lot available where you live as far as poultry supplies.

I did wonder about that, but I don't think it is, we have about 4 brands here and I only buy the best stuff ( westons) my chickens don't like the reliance brand( one step off budget) or one of the organic brands that changed its name. We have been using this brand for over 10 years and we have rarely had any problems, tho any with problems used to be dispatched often before I knew of it. We had a wry neck a few years ago, I know that and we have had splay legs before but never the strange leg things that I have had this season. Thanks so do I, I will give them all 1 tablet crushed up every second day ( since its a human dose and I don't want to over do it) and I will comtinue with the b vit tablets each day.

I only ever buy feed as I need it / only have one extra sack of each thing so I know it doesn't sit very long around here, but I don't know about how long it sits at the shop. As much as I like the idea of organic, its really expensive here and it lacks many essential nutriants which I dislike. I've seen birds on it wasting away and not looking good because they aren't getting enough calcium, iron etc.

No unfortunately we don't have a lot hence I am using human versions, thinking about it now we seem to be lagging behind in many things like this for animals, and bringing this sort of thing in is impossible to get past or MAF.

The chick looks better today, its head is slightly better and there is less tumbling backwards. I will persevere and keep this thread updated.