HELP!! Silkie Emergency!

[snow5164]

Pick up eye droppers to feed with.
Don’t worry I too had one bounce back from wry neck , it’s scarey but can be reversed .

No drug stores open today ?
Vitamin E and selenium are from drug stores .....you can give a children’s liquid vitamin without iron ... also from drug stores


Deep breaths

 

[MROO]

thank you! ill go buy everything tomorrow! i gave her water with aple cider vinegar with a syringe because its so bad she cant eat or drink by herself... i dont know how i will administer food though.

First, don't force water down her throat - she'll get it in her lungs. Dribble it (using your syringe) along the side of her beak, along the "crack." Her reflexes should kick in and she'll swallow properly. Rather than cider vinegar, try some Pedialyte or Gatorade in her water. The electrolytes should help. I actually mixed Herman's meds in Pedialyte. I bought the freezer pops, so I only had to open one at a time. The rest kept for a long time than an open bottle of liquid would have.

To feed her, wrap her in a towel with just her head and neck out. First off, it will keep her from flapping around and hurting herself. It also allows you to use your hands to position her head and neck upright, which helps her to swallow properly without choking or drowning herself. A side benefit is that it also limits the mess!

Don't worry about hurting her by "forcing" her neck. You're not forcing, just gently supporting - and believe me, she'll let you know if you're hurting her! Most likely it won't bother her, especially when she realizes you have food and water right in front of her - and she can reach and swallow.

If she doesn't eat on her own that way, make her food into a slurry and dribble it along the side of her beak - again, holding her head up so it can go down properly. She'll figure it out!

 

[MROO]

It may be a bit of a long haul ... but you can DO this!

 

[mew317]

It looks like a neurological issue to me. We had a chicken (now like 5 or 6 months of age, a Golden Wyandotte pullet.) who had the issues as a small child which we thought was Wry Neck or Star Gazing. It turns out it was Neurological issues in the head from a injury or something else. Star gazer (or Star) is doing fine outside with other chicks her age. If it’s neither then it will possibly be something else.
- Mew317.

 

[MROO]

How is she doing tonight? Were you able to get some vitamins and/or food into her?

 

[NorthernChick1]

How is she doing tonight? Were you able to get some vitamins and/or food into her?

I havnt seen any difference in her yet, ive given her a couple droplets of Vitamin E and Selenium mixed in with Polyvisol last night and this morning. If i hold her head up straight for a couple seconds, she can keep it up long enough to be able to get a couple bites of food. I still have to feed her water through a syringe though.

Also, I have 8 chickens and two muscovies that are 20 weeks of age, my silkies are 18 weeks. two days ago i decided to put them all together as my silkies would stay caged in the coop with 100% full visilibity of the coop with the chckens and ducks residing in it as well. Yesterday when i got home one silkie was laying on the floor not moving. i brought her in the house with the wry neck silkie to calm her and see whats wrong. I saw that she bled from the top of her beak, i think a chicken must have pecked and tore a bit of skin that caused her to bleed. She seems fine, nothing broken and she stands but doesn't move and i didn't see her eat or drink last night. I gave her vitamins (e and selenium) as well and water... will see how she looks when i get home in a couple hours.

 

[MROO]

I havnt seen any difference in her yet, ive given her a couple droplets of Vitamin E and Selenium mixed in with Polyvisol last night and this morning. If i hold her head up straight for a couple seconds, she can keep it up long enough to be able to get a couple bites of food. I still have to feed her water through a syringe though.

Also, I have 8 chickens and two muscovies that are 20 weeks of age, my silkies are 18 weeks. two days ago i decided to put them all together as my silkies would stay caged in the coop with 100% full visilibity of the coop with the chckens and ducks residing in it as well. Yesterday when i got home one silkie was laying on the floor not moving. i brought her in the house with the wry neck silkie to calm her and see whats wrong. I saw that she bled from the top of her beak, i think a chicken must have pecked and tore a bit of skin that caused her to bleed. She seems fine, nothing broken and she stands but doesn't move and i didn't see her eat or drink last night. I gave her vitamins (e and selenium) as well and water... will see how she looks when i get home in a couple hours.

Your second Silkie probably doesn't need the selenium & e, but I would definitely give her electrolytes (NutriDrench or Pedialyte.) You may want to soften her food, too. If her beak hurts, she's less likely to eat the hard pellets or crumble.
It may take a few days for your crook-neck baby to show imrovement, and it probably won't be dramatic, but you should see her loosening up a bit and eating/drinking better. Wry neck takes a while, but ... baby steps ...

 

[NorthernChick1]

Your second Silkie probably doesn't need the selenium & e, but I would definitely give her electrolytes (NutriDrench or Pedialyte.) You may want to soften her food, too. If her beak hurts, she's less likely to eat the hard pellets or crumble.

It may take a few days for your crook-neck baby to show imrovement, and it probably won't be dramatic, but you should see her loosening up a bit and eating/drinking better. Wry neck takes a while, but ... baby steps ...

Got home yesterday to find my injured girl dead :"( very unfortunate poor thing...
My wry neck showed improvement already, with my help she is able to keep her head up for a little bit and sometimes up to a minute! She eats by herself when she is able to control her neck. I found her a couple times getting her head up by herself and eating! I still administer the liquids myself but shes already improved slightly within the first 24hrs. Keep you posted!

 

[MROO]

Got home yesterday to find my injured girl dead :"( very unfortunate poor thing...
My wry neck showed improvement already, with my help she is able to keep her head up for a little bit and sometimes up to a minute! She eats by herself when she is able to control her neck. I found her a couple times getting her head up by herself and eating! I still administer the liquids myself but shes already improved slightly within the first 24hrs. Keep you posted!

I'm so sorry about your lost Silkie - but absolutely thrilled that your wry-necked baby is doing so much better! It's amazing what a difference the meds make - and so quickly. She'll need them for a god while yet. They're kindof like antibiotics, when the doctor says, "Complete the whole treatment, even if you feel much better." I think we treated Herman for about three weeks, then left the meds in his water for another 10 days. All of our birds get a commercially "balanced" feed, but I still supplement with a general poultry vitamin supplement whenever they're highly stressed. That's generally only if we have long stretches of rain, heat or bitter cold; during show season and during molt.
I'm SO glad your little one is doing better. It's so hard to see them hurting!

 

[NorthernChick1]

I'm so sorry about your lost Silkie - but absolutely thrilled that your wry-necked baby is doing so much better! It's amazing what a difference the meds make - and so quickly. She'll need them for a god while yet. They're kindof like antibiotics, when the doctor says, "Complete the whole treatment, even if you feel much better." I think we treated Herman for about three weeks, then left the meds in his water for another 10 days. All of our birds get a commercially "balanced" feed, but I still supplement with a general poultry vitamin supplement whenever they're highly stressed. That's generally only if we have long stretches of rain, heat or bitter cold; during show season and during molt.
I'm SO glad your little one is doing better. It's so hard to see them hurting!

At what time can I put her back in with the flock, (couple of days after she seems 100%) also, my silkies share the same water, is it ok to just put some in the one waterer and let them all drink out of it? I also have no idea how much vitamins I need to give her. I put about 5 tables of vitamin E and 5 capsules of selenium in half a bottle of polyvisol, I give her a couple drops in the am and again at night. I have no actual idea if its enough or not enough.