How long for improvement/Wry Neck

[candycar]

I have a 1 year old hen that suddenly developed "star gazing" wry neck on 4 July. She was fine at 5:30 pm and wry neck at 8:30pm. All my chickens are on a good feed (Neutrena all flock) with free range in the secure backyard.
I separated her form the rest of the flock(1 cockerel, 2 pullets & 2 more hens). The next morning started treating her with Vit E and B complex/w/thiamin + cooked eggs for the selenium.
She has not gotten better and not worse. She can eat, drink and lay blue eggs still.
She almost seems normal until upset then she throws her head back and flops around backwards. She isn't the friendliest of hens, I call her "Nickle Ninny" because she's so reactive and afraid of people.
I hate to cull her because she consistently lays the prettiest blue eggs. Is there anything else I can do?
Taking her to the vet is out (I've spent $1000 on two well loved chickens that died anyway)
How long should I wait until I have to cull her?

 

[Hannahnic14]

From what I understand, it can take days to weeks to see any improvement. You should add Selenium to the vitamin mixture your giving her. It helped my chick tremendously! I believe the dosing is 25mcg or so. Be careful because too much is toxic.

 

[Swbertrand1]

I have a 1 year old hen that suddenly developed "star gazing" wry neck on 4 July. She was fine at 5:30 pm and wry neck at 8:30pm. All my chickens are on a good feed (Neutrena all flock) with free range in the secure backyard.
I separated her form the rest of the flock(1 cockerel, 2 pullets & 2 more hens). The next morning started treating her with Vit E and B complex/w/thiamin + cooked eggs for the selenium.
She has not gotten better and not worse. She can eat, drink and lay blue eggs still.
She almost seems normal until upset then she throws her head back and flops around backwards. She isn't the friendliest of hens, I call her "Nickle Ninny" because she's so reactive and afraid of people.
I hate to cull her because she consistently lays the prettiest blue eggs. Is there anything else I can do?
Taking her to the vet is out (I've spent $1000 on two well loved chickens that died anyway)
How long should I wait until I have to cull her?

It sounds like your case is not so severe, but it's important that she gets the right treatment in a timely manner. Vit-E (400IU gelcap contents) mixed with 25mcg of crushed Selenium twice per day could certainly be handled easily by a 1 yr-old hen.

The easiest way to give that to her is to crush a small amount of her feed, add a little yogurt (good probiotic for digestive health) and mix in the Selenium and Vit-E. Create a moist paste for her to eat or to be hand fed. Some will eat this mix readily; others need the hand-feeding...

As for how long it will take, that's the million dollar question. Some chickens respond in a matter of hours, while others can take weeks or months. I'm in the middle of treating a little Silkie that came down with Wry Neck on June 22, so I'm nearly 3 weeks in, but she's doing great! I won't stop giving her "meds" until I'm 200% convinced she will never get any better. On the upside, everything I read says that this can be successfully treated if you have the patience and determination to see it through. I'd hate to see such a beautiful bird culled before she had someone commit to a treatment regimen that will likely pull her through this.

For more information on Wry Neck, the main page of BackYardChickens has a SEARCH function just under the "FORUMS" tab. Search "WRY NECK" or other search combinations for quick links to a substantial amount of great information from products others have used successfully, dosages (amount and frequency), etc:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/search/4573310/?q=wry+neck&t=post&o=relevance

 

[Cuween]

I have a 1 year old hen that suddenly developed "star gazing" wry neck on 4 July. She was fine at 5:30 pm and wry neck at 8:30pm. All my chickens are on a good feed (Neutrena all flock) with free range in the secure backyard.
I separated her form the rest of the flock(1 cockerel, 2 pullets & 2 more hens). The next morning started treating her with Vit E and B complex/w/thiamin + cooked eggs for the selenium.
She has not gotten better and not worse. She can eat, drink and lay blue eggs still.
She almost seems normal until upset then she throws her head back and flops around backwards. She isn't the friendliest of hens, I call her "Nickle Ninny" because she's so reactive and afraid of people.
I hate to cull her because she consistently lays the prettiest blue eggs. Is there anything else I can do?
Taking her to the vet is out (I've spent $1000 on two well loved chickens that died anyway)
How long should I wait until I have to cull her?
View attachment 2754320

Could this be “star gazing” and not “wry neck”? Seems I’ve read they are two different conditions.

 

[Eggcessive]

Could this be “star gazing” and not “wry neck”? Seems I’ve read they are two different conditions.

Star gazing and torticolis (wry neck) are under the same catagory of a neurological symptom that causes twisting or abnormal movement of the neck. Opisthonatos or stargazing is one type, and torticolis with twisting down, to the side, or in an S is another. Some wry neck is caused by genetics, may be seen after hatching, or later in life, some are caused by head or neck injuries, vitamin E or thiamine deciciency, and sometimes wry neck is a symptoms of certain diseases that affect the brain—Mareks, Newcastles, severe respiratory disease, and others.