Hen has head tilted to look up-All the time-she can't hold her head normally.

[mrsgoodwrench]

My hen is 3yrs old. This just started today. She walks around with her head tilted as if she is looking skyward-all the time. She can't jump on her perch, can't see food, etc. I massaged her neck thinking perhaps she has a pulled muscle and she kept one eye closed as if she is in pain on that side. There is no evidence of a topical injury either. Is this a pulled muscle or some weird chicken disease? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[fluffy3rd]

Don't worry, this happened to my hen to. My friend gave her a little grass and she felt a lot better.

 

[mrsgoodwrench]

I thought I would reply to this as someone may need this info in the future. After further online research I found that this condition is known as Wry neck or Crook neck. Its cause is a B vitamin deficiency.
I thought if one had a deficiency then they probably all had this problem and since B vitamins are water soluable, overdosing was not a problem. I gave my chickens Brewer's Yeast sprinkled into their food as it is a good natural source of vitamin B complex. Within 24 hours my Wry neck girl showed a huge improvement. I had made sure that she ate a sufficient amount of food, too. I am continuing the Brewer's Yeast in their food for day 2 and will post my results. I'm thinking to seperate my Wry neck hen and continue to give her Brewer's Yeast on her food for a short time. This has also been a lesson for me as I will now put it on their food on a more regular basis to prevent this in the future. Healthy hens are happy hens!

 

[FlyHigher]

My hen is 3yrs old. This just started today. She walks around with her head tilted as if she is looking skyward-all the time. She can't jump on her perch, can't see food, etc. I massaged her neck thinking perhaps she has a pulled muscle and she kept one eye closed as if she is in pain on that side. There is no evidence of a topical injury either. Is this a pulled muscle or some weird chicken disease? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

Star-gazing is the typical symptom of Newscast disease. Is there any respiratory symptoms? If so, then it is probably, most likely, ND

 

[mrsgoodwrench]

No respiratory symptoms whatsoever. And after 48 hrs. of brewer's yeast mixed in the food she is 98 % better. What a difference the brewer's yeast has made.
Thanks for the info regarding ND, though, good to know!