recovering from wry neck

[chixmaidservice]

Looking for advice and opinions... I am 2 weeks into fighting to save a hen from rye neck. I have used advice from this site exclusively and she is improving slowly. Have kept her inside in a dog crate as the other hens were plotting her demise in the coop. I am trying to get her outside the last couple of days as our weather in NE Ohio has turned springlike and I want her to walk and preen to help her regain her balance. She still cocks her head, but the upside down neck twisting seems over and she has regained enough beak control to eat. When outside she cuddles up to the fence, so I know she is missing her flock, but she is still clumsy at running and when I have tried reuniting her, it has not been pretty. What I am wondering is... I have 6 hatchery chicks that will be 6 weeks old this weekend, i intend to fence off a grow out pen in the main coop/ run for them and am hoping to get them out of the house this weekend. Would I be able to let my wry hen cohabitate w/ them? I know they can out run/maneuver her, and i think she is large enough that they will not pick on her while she finishes recuperating. Is wry neck contagious, or is it a vitamin deficiency? Also why would only one of my adult birds have been affected by it? Thanks in advance for your sage advice!

 

[Eggcessive]

Wry neck is only a symptom of many ailments, such as head injury, vitamin E deficiency, illnesses such as Mareks and others, and sometimes genetic. I would try longer to get her back with her own flock if possible by continuing visits. The younger chicks could get coccidiosis from being around an older chicken all at once, and she could hurt one of them being so small.