My Hen's Head is Upside-down

[Isamama]

My 12 week old Buff Orpington is exciting very strange behavior! I think she got stuck out in the run in the snow, it's her first day of snow. When I went to gather eggs and feed tonight I found her out there alone with her head upside-down and staggering. Won't let me upload video. She's moving her neck in an upside down circular motion. I noticed some people peck marks on the side of her face, otherwise she is unscathed. I brought her into the garage with food and water. She is eating ravenously, which is a good sign, I'm assuming. I'm trying to get her to drink. I have some Save A Chick in going to try to syringe feed her. Any other suggestions?

 

[Isamama]

 

[The Angry Hen]

I've had no experience with it myself, but I am most likely guessing that your hen has wry neck. How's her capability of eating and/or drinking? If she does, in fact, have wry neck... I would suggest removing her temporarily from the coop. As a tip... Vitamin E may help. Best wishes and hope this helps the slightest bit! (She's a pretty hen by the way. What expressive eyes!).

 

[Sunshine Flock]

I don't know if wry neck is common to her breed, but from what I've read the recovery success rate is very good, and most folks are simply increasing nutritional support and piercing a vitamin E capsule as suggested above.

You can't upload videos here, but you can create a free Vimeo account and upload there. I think it took about 23 minutes to upload a minute long video. It's faster in my experience than YouTube.

Keep us updated on how she's doing!

 

[Isamama]

I've had no experience with it myself, but I am most likely guessing that your hen has wry neck. How's her capability of eating and/or drinking? If she does, in fact, have wry neck... I would suggest removing her temporarily from the coop. As a tip... Vitamin E may help. Best wishes and hope this helps the slightest bit! (She's a pretty hen by the way. What expressive eyes!).

Susan is one of my favorites, so I'm really hoping she pulls through! I gave her 15 ml of Save a Chick which has vitamin E in it. I left a bowl of it for her along with clean water. She is eating, not so much drinking in her own. I've quarantined her in a tub in the garage. I have 7 other hens in the coop. Thanks for the advice!

 

[Isamama]

First one is her neck condition, the second video is her able to eat. I syringed her 15ml of Save a Chick, and left it with clean water for her in the tote.

 

[Isamama]

I just put up the two videos I took! Posted above!

 

[Isamama]

I'm reading about giving her tuna for the selenium?? Anyone done that before?

https://www.raising-happy-chickens.com/wry-neck.html

 

[lazy gardener]

Quick google search said Tuna is a good source of Selenium. As PP have said, Vitamin E, and Selenium may fix her right up. I'd also include a source of B vitamins, and really, a good multi vit. Other thread searches for you to look at: Star gazing, crazy chick disease, wry neck, Vitamin E encephalopathy. I had a hen who was a moon walker, but only during times of stress: molting, cold weather. I'd give her some Poultry Nutri drench and that would fix her right up until the next episode. She was a wonderful layer.

 

[Eggcessive]

Yes, selenium is found in many foods, and can help with the utilization of vitamin E. Thiamine (vitamin B 1) is another good vitamin for treatment of wry neck (torticolis, encephalomalacia, star gazing.) Wry neck is a neurological symptom of several things including head injuries, vitamin deficiency, heredity, and in certain diseases, including Mareks and others. Hopefully, she will soon recover. Keep us posted.