Danibirdmama
Hatching
- Oct 3, 2024
- 1
- 0
- 2
Hi everyone, new here.. Hoping someone here has veterinary background for severe wry neck in an older chick. Please read everything if you’re keen on helping 
My parents and I have a new brood of three Speckled Sussex, hatched June 5th and welcome home mid July. About a couple weeks in, we noticed the one who was clearly the runt (she wasn’t growing) of the three suddenly had severe wry neck with her head drooping all the way down her neck. It was awful. She spun in circles, struggled to walk, slept practically upside down with her backside pressed against the wall of the coop and so her feathers came in twisted. I have an amateur background in nutrition and herbalism and so did lots of research and treated her with vitamins and supplements three times daily. After some ups and downs, she finally made steady and dramatic improvement in September. A week ago and two weeks she was running around with her sisters, often taking charge as the first out of the run for free range time and eating heartily and showing signs of leadership. She was finally growing too. Not as big as her sisters yet but her improvement was amazing. We lowered her supplements to once or twice a day for a handful of days then went back to three times quickly when she seemed to slide back slightly. Now suddenly again she’s completely backslid. Yesterday she ran around for a short bit but she was very tipsy, tripping a lot, and then collapsed for a nap on her side and the rest of the day couldn’t stay upright very well. Today she can barely hold herself up on her legs for long periods of time.
Her supplements are a bird multivitamin powder, extra vitamin E, egg powder for the selenium content, maca powder for minerals, and cat’s claw for inflammation and joint pain. It gets sprinkled on a cut up grape or cherry tomato three times a day and she loves it.
We’ve assumed her wry neck was due to vitamin deficiency from birth. I’m worried that her body couldn’t handle her growth spurt, or that it was something else all along like an infection. Luckily her two sisters show no signs of distress/illness and they care for her sweetly and don’t peck her which is amazing, but we’ve got her quarantined now since she can’t move well. One worry was that they still cuddle to sleep and sometimes she’d be on the bottom of the pile. There’s no vet around us that will see birds and we don’t want to give up yet. Her poops look normal unless she’s eaten too many grapes or tomatoes. She’s definitely smaller than the other two.
Hoping for sincere help from folks who’ve read the whole post.
My parents and I have a new brood of three Speckled Sussex, hatched June 5th and welcome home mid July. About a couple weeks in, we noticed the one who was clearly the runt (she wasn’t growing) of the three suddenly had severe wry neck with her head drooping all the way down her neck. It was awful. She spun in circles, struggled to walk, slept practically upside down with her backside pressed against the wall of the coop and so her feathers came in twisted. I have an amateur background in nutrition and herbalism and so did lots of research and treated her with vitamins and supplements three times daily. After some ups and downs, she finally made steady and dramatic improvement in September. A week ago and two weeks she was running around with her sisters, often taking charge as the first out of the run for free range time and eating heartily and showing signs of leadership. She was finally growing too. Not as big as her sisters yet but her improvement was amazing. We lowered her supplements to once or twice a day for a handful of days then went back to three times quickly when she seemed to slide back slightly. Now suddenly again she’s completely backslid. Yesterday she ran around for a short bit but she was very tipsy, tripping a lot, and then collapsed for a nap on her side and the rest of the day couldn’t stay upright very well. Today she can barely hold herself up on her legs for long periods of time.
Her supplements are a bird multivitamin powder, extra vitamin E, egg powder for the selenium content, maca powder for minerals, and cat’s claw for inflammation and joint pain. It gets sprinkled on a cut up grape or cherry tomato three times a day and she loves it.
We’ve assumed her wry neck was due to vitamin deficiency from birth. I’m worried that her body couldn’t handle her growth spurt, or that it was something else all along like an infection. Luckily her two sisters show no signs of distress/illness and they care for her sweetly and don’t peck her which is amazing, but we’ve got her quarantined now since she can’t move well. One worry was that they still cuddle to sleep and sometimes she’d be on the bottom of the pile. There’s no vet around us that will see birds and we don’t want to give up yet. Her poops look normal unless she’s eaten too many grapes or tomatoes. She’s definitely smaller than the other two.
Hoping for sincere help from folks who’ve read the whole post.
