Pullet with neuorological issues, is she too cold? Odd neck movement & laying down

[Fluster Cluck Acres]

Any b complex is fine, regular, b 100, or super b complex. It might take some time, days or weeks for symptoms to improve. Yes, give her the b complex and E daily for a few weeks to see if they help.

I gave her B complex, plus the vitamin E. I will continue it every day. I read somewhere to continue the vitamins for 1-2 weeks after all symptoms are gone.

Helping them get enough to eat and drink is very important, and might need to be done 2-3 times a day.

Fortunately she is able to eat on her own. She just does not ever eat a large quantity of food. She seems to get distracted or lose interst quickly, even with high-interest treats.

Wry neck, star gazing, crook neck, and torticolis are a neurological symptom that may be seen in head or neck injury, vitamin E deficiency, and in some diseases that affect the brain. Mareks, some respiratory viruses, such as Newcastles or avian influenza are some. But since she had some sort of tremors early on , it might be related. How old was she when she first had tremors? Oh, I found the answer in your other thread, and it was around 2 weeks. Do her eye look normal to you, or have you noticed any cloudiness in her pupils or other abnormality?

I don't see anything out of the ordinary when I look at her eyes. No cloudiness. My flock was AI clean back in October, and no new birds have been introduced since then. I worried about Mareks and Newcastle when she was younger, but from what I've read, it doesn't seem likely she'd have survived this long with those diseases, and other flock members would likely be sick by now. I've sort of assumed its some sort of birth defect or she was dropped as a chick.

I would bring her out daily for supervised visits with her flock to keep all familiar with her.

I will do that. I sure wish it would warm up! I don't think it's supposed to go above freezing until Monday.

 

[Fluster Cluck Acres]

Selenium is already in her food, but many use scrambled egg to add more selenium which helps in vitamin E uptake. Sardine, tuna, and other things contain selenium, but only a little is needed, and too much can be dangerous, why we usually don’t recommend a selenium supplement.

Thanks for this info. I'll try sardines later today.

 

[Fluster Cluck Acres]

Thanks for chiming in @Eggcessive and @Wyorp Rock . I learn something new every time I read something you post. @Fluster Cluck Acres I am hoping your little PB gets better soon. Highly recommend daily visits as @Eggcessive mentioned. I have a girl with a huge neck injury I had to keep separate for a long time. She still fights rooster's authority.

I will take her on supervised field trips to see her friends. I showed her to my little cockerel who was looking after her yesterday. I wanted him to know he'd done a good job and she was safe. He was a little too excited when he saw her though so i didn't let them interact. My mature roo seems to know she's a little special, and has never tried to mate her, but the young guy is... well, he's young, lol.

 

[Fluster Cluck Acres]

Update on PB’s condition-

Wednesday after getting the vitamins, PB was doing pretty well. Minimal stargazing, and basically being her version of normal. AND spoiled little brat that she is… she shared my selenium-rich salmon dinner with me

Thursday was not so great. She couldn’t really walk, because the stargazing was so bad she could only go backwards as she tried to catch her balance. Her crop hadn’t emptied overnight, and she had less appetite than normal. I gave her the vitamins but it took a while for her to perk up at all and get control of her neck muscles. I worked 15 hours that day so didn’t really see her much. Hubs said she hadn’t had much interest in eating when he’d tried.

Friday morning her crop was empty, and as she woke up more she developed more appetite and balance.she took her vitamins and had a pretty good day.

I appreciate everyone’s help and will continue to share updates.

 

[Fluster Cluck Acres]

Update on PB's condition and a question.

First of all, Peanut Butter is doing great. She's been symptom-free and back with her flock for almost 2 weeks. I kept her on the vitamin B & E + selenium rich food for 10 days- until Monday, 1/31. I stopped the vitamins because I went out of town for a few days and since she was doing so well (and was particularly challenging to medicate) I decided not to ask Hubs to medicate her.

My question is- how do I ensure the stargazing symptoms don't return? Should I periodically give her the vitamins or something? I've read tons of threads & articles about nutritent deficensies, and and I'm always surprised by how acute some of these symtpoms can be. PB eats Purina flock raiser and we do feed treats- eggs, scratch, mealworms, table scraps, etc... since PB doesn't lay and has always been underweight, I always make sure she gets extra treats- especially healthy & high protein treats. But perhaps, since she doesn't eat a lot anyways, those extra treats were keeping her away from the formulated food? Should I anticipate that this will be a recurring issue for PB?

 

[MarlaMac]

Update on PB's condition and a question.

View attachment 3739208
First of all, Peanut Butter is doing great. She's been symptom-free and back with her flock for almost 2 weeks. I kept her on the vitamin B & E + selenium rich food for 10 days- until Monday, 1/31. I stopped the vitamins because I went out of town for a few days and since she was doing so well (and was particularly challenging to medicate) I decided not to ask Hubs to medicate her.

My question is- how do I ensure the stargazing symptoms don't return? Should I periodically give her the vitamins or something? I've read tons of threads & articles about nutritent deficensies, and and I'm always surprised by how acute some of these symtpoms can be. PB eats Purina flock raiser and we do feed treats- eggs, scratch, mealworms, table scraps, etc... since PB doesn't lay and has always been underweight, I always make sure she gets extra treats- especially healthy & high protein treats. But perhaps, since she doesn't eat a lot anyways, those extra treats were keeping her away from the formulated food? Should I anticipate that this will be a recurring issue for PB?

Glad to here PB is doing so well!

What I have seen reported over and over on this sight is to keep to the 90/10 rule - make sure she is getting at least 90% of her diet from her feed. As she recovers I would make it 100% for a good while.

What I do when my chickens really want a treat from me is I wet some of their feed and ball it up and then offer them that from my hand. They think the world of this - everyone runs to get a bite. They think they are getting a treat and I get to give it to them.

The other thing I do is I make chicken bread on occaision. I use their feed as the base (flour) and add, blueberries, olive oil, and egg and a touch of honey or syrup to sweeten it a bit. I cook just like I would cook a quick bread. It takes a little longer, but it works.

Then that is a treat I give them much to their delight.

So, keep it simple. The feed is balanced and is your best bet.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Glad to hear she's doing better!

Good information and suggestions from @MarlaMac

 

[Fluster Cluck Acres]

Glad to here PB is doing so well!

What I have seen reported over and over on this sight is to keep to the 90/10 rule - make sure she is getting at least 90% of her diet from her feed. As she recovers I would make it 100% for a good while.

What I do when my chickens really want a treat from me is I wet some of their feed and ball it up and then offer them that from my hand. They think the world of this - everyone runs to get a bite. They think they are getting a treat and I get to give it to them.

The other thing I do is I make chicken bread on occaision. I use their feed as the base (flour) and add, blueberries, olive oil, and egg and a touch of honey or syrup to sweeten it a bit. I cook just like I would cook a quick bread. It takes a little longer, but it works.

Then that is a treat I give them much to their delight.

So, keep it simple. The feed is balanced and is your best bet.

Thanks. I’ll give those a try and cut back on her special Mama’s girl extra treat feedings.