Hen with wry neck

[chiknGeek]

Two weeks ago, I had an elderly hen with wry neck. She was also sitting on her hocks and generally not seeming well. I tried to treat her with vitamins. She didn't appear to respond, so I ended up culling her. The wry neck came on quite suddenly. She seemed fine when they went into the coop. The next morning she was having the issue.

Now I have another hen with wry neck. She is only 3 years old. She is not hock sitting or otherwise seemingly unwell. She eats with enthusiasm, but I have to hold the food near her face so that she can get to it. Her pecking reflex is good while eating. I am treating her again with vitamins (nutridrench and vit e).

My concern is, 1 how long should I attempt to treat her? And 2, since this has now affected two hens, surely there is a contagious or environmental factor at play. What can I do to determine cause?

 

[Debbie292d]

Hi,

Sorry about your hens.

What breed are these? I ask because if silkie, then I'd lean towards a vitamin deficiency/neurological right off the bat. It still could be though. What do they get for feed?

You can treat her with a Vitamin E 400 IU, once a day. It might take a couple of weeks. Follow up the E with some scrambled eggs to help the E absorb.

In case it's nothing to do with vitamin deficiency, do you have any type of chemicals in the area, like a farmer spraying fields, fresh paint or stain, etc.?

 

[chiknGeek]

The elderly one was a crested cream legbar. The current one is a welsumer.

They are currently on all flock, with free choice oyster shell. Neither had started laying again yet, but both were done with their molt.

We do have a row crop field north of us, but there's a fair amount of distance and a patch of woods between. They haven't sprayed anything recently. I have not painted or stained anything.

I am racking my brain. We did spread ashes from our woodstove onto our gravel driveway fairly recently.