Is this Wry Neck? Includes Photos

[neumera]

Yesterday I noticed that my 9 month old silver wyandotte was acting funny. She wouldn't raise her neck, it seemed to rest on her back and she was kind of stumbly. When she went in to roost for the night I took her and examined her to see if she had a impacted crop because her breast is protruding. But there wasn't anything really there that felt like a full crop, it feels like a bone. Her neck clearly won't straighten and it feels like it is in an 'S' shape that won't move. But all the photos I've seen of wry neck have their heads on the floor. She laid an egg yesterday. She seems disoriented, but has clear eyes. She's a sweety and I would like to help her. Thanks for looking. -Anne

 

[Eggcessive]

That posture looks to me more like the classic "puffed up" or hunching/huddling of a sick chicken, such as when they have cocci or feel terrible. I notice that she is sitting on her hocks or elbows. Does she have any curling (as in a claw) of either toes? Some of her symptoms could possibly be a sign of Mareks disease, although many other problems can look like it. I would start her on vitamins (B1 or thiamine, E, and selenium) just in case of vitamin deficiency, and those are what are used for treatment of wry neck too. Is she eating, drinking, or having any diarrhea? Here is some reading for you: https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/the-great-big-giant-mareks-disease-faq

RIBOFLAVIN DEFICIENCYfrom Merck Veterinary Manual

Many tissues may be affected by riboflavin deficiency, although the epithelium and the myelin sheaths of some of the main nerves are major targets. Changes in the sciatic nerves produce “curled-toe” paralysis in growing chickens. Egg production is affected, and riboflavin-deficient eggs do not hatch. When chicks are fed a diet deficient in riboflavin, their appetite is fairly good but they grow slowly, become weak and emaciated, and develop diarrhea between the first and second weeks. Deficient chicks are reluctant to move unless forced and then frequently walk on their hocks with the aid of their wings. The leg muscles are atrophied and flabby, and the skin is dry and harsh. In advanced stages of deficiency, the chicks lie prostrate with their legs extended, sometimes in opposite directions. The characteristic sign of riboflavin deficiency is a marked enlargement of the sciatic and brachial nerve sheaths; sciatic nerves usually show the most pronounced effects. Histologic examination of the affected nerves shows degenerative changes in the myelin sheaths that, when severe, pinch the nerve. This produces a permanent stimulus, which causes the curled-toe paralysis.