Rooster neck injury

[EggSighted4Life]

Thanks again. All the supplement I could find at Tractor was something called “rooster booster” seems like a multivitamin for chickens. I also have him running on the chick booster that has some vitamins in it as well.

Rooster Booster is a brand name. The product I would choose that they make would be the Poultry Cell.

Marek's vaccine is not 100% and depends heavily on initial quarantine.

New Castle's might be considered rare... but tell that to all the folks in California who were first under mandatory quarantine not able to get any chicks or birds this year... but worse it was followed by mandatory euthanasia of ALL back yard flock within part of the quarantine! I don't personally think that's your symptoms, but just like to make the point to not think "it can't happen to me".

Your vet assessment of the rooster not being malnourished... um, well he isn't deprived of energy (starving or skinny) but he *may* not be processing a specific nutrient appropriately. It's great that coccidiosis wasn't an issue that could have caused long term problems like this due to intestinal necrosis.

I see lots of birds living with torticollis for several years, quite contentedly it seems... locally there is a Pekin drake named Hunker Duck for how it looks like he's hunkered down.

Keep up your massages and helping him keep or gain back his movement if possible... as it will likely be beneficial to his recovery.

 

[Zach123]

Thanks so much again Eggcessive. I appreciate you taking the time to follow this thread and give advice! I will get the capsules and some of those foods for him on my way home tonight. I have been raising chickens since I was in middle school and never have I had issues like this before. Sure, I’ve lost birds to predators and dealt with chicks that had cocci, but this is something I’ve never experienced before.

Eggsighted, thank you as well for the help! I don’t know as I saw any of the poultry cell when I was there yesterday, the only vitamin supplement I saw was the rooster booster multivitamin.

He as well as the other chicks we ordered this spring were all vaccinated at the hatchery (at least I paid for them to be) and then lived in a brooder in the house for 6 weeks after that so I guess they were quarantined :/.

I’m guessing that he was referring to Newcastle’s being rare to our location (north east Colorado) specifically but could possibly be more common in other places, especially since he said it is more likely to be found in poultry from Latin America and California being a border state it could potentially have a greater chance for exposure. But yeah you are absolutely right just because something is rare doesn’t equate to it being impossible.

I will keep up with the massage. Do you think heat would help? I filled one of the kid’s socks with rice and nuked it a bit to warm it up but I’m not sure if that was beneficial at all since it doesn’t seem to be an injury.

 

[Zach123]

Just had another thought on my way home from work today. Does anyone have any thoughts on CBD? I know it is often touted as some kind of miracle cure all and personally I think a lot of the hype amounts to “snake oil” but I think there is some truth to some of it. In Colorado at least it is definitely finding its way into mainstream medicine, for neurological conditions especially. I will probably call the vet about it tomorrow but was curious as to others thoughts as well.

 

[Eggcessive]

I can’t say much about CBD oil. A family member once tried it 2 years ago for a hereditary muscle disease that caused pain without any relief after a few months of treatment. It was very expensive. My friend gives it to her dog with seizures instead of the phenobarbital that her vet prescribed, at many times the cost and no studies done to prove that it does anything. I am a little skeptical. I would probably try the usual treatments first, and then go from there, but ultimately it is up to you.

 

[FarmerGirl101]

Just had another thought on my way home from work today. Does anyone have any thoughts on CBD? I know it is often touted as some kind of miracle cure all and personally I think a lot of the hype amounts to “snake oil” but I think there is some truth to some of it. In Colorado at least it is definitely finding its way into mainstream medicine, for neurological conditions especially. I will probably call the vet about it tomorrow but was curious as to others thoughts as well.

Going back to what @EggSighted4Life said, I would watch his poop to see if it is green and liquidy as that is a sign for New Castle Disease. He most likely doesn't have it but it is an option your vet gave

 

[Zach123]

I know my sister uses it to help with her epilepsy with good results but avian nervous systems are probably quite a bit different than mammal ones. Because it is tied to a federally illegal substance, studies can be hard enough to see how it helps/effects people. It will probably be years before any real studies are done in veterinary medicine, and then it will focus on animals like dogs and cats, not something like chickens that most people consider “disposable.”

Definitely still following through with the vitamin treatments (and keeping him in the antibiotics) though. His poop has been solid and pretty normal. So far no other birds in the flock are acting anything but normal so I’m getting more confident that it’s not an infectious disease.

 

[Zach123]

So this morning when I was feeding him, he was still doing his neck twist but wasn’t as severe and not as much flailing around. He also seemed like he could control it a little better at times. He seemed a lot calmer and sat or stood on his own while he was eating breakfast. Hopefully this is actual improvement and not just me seeing what I want to see.

The major concern I have is he doesn’t take plain liquid when I offer them to him. I have been mixing his food with the chick boost water so hopefully he is getting some fluids that way but when I give him a bowl of water he isn’t interested. He eats like a champ though, no issues getting him to scarf down food and even his medicine.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

any thoughts on CBD? I know it is often touted as some kind of miracle cure all and personally I think a lot of the hype amounts to “snake oil” but I think there is some truth to some of it

Well, I'm sure CBD is effective for some things and not for others. I do not suggest using something that we have no clue on dosing information. Snake oil, I don't think so.

The major concern I have is he doesn’t take plain liquid when I offer them to him.

None of the information I have read indicates wry neck actually causes pain. As far as can tell it seems almost like a muscle weakness??

For informational purposes... pain is a GOOD thing... it's our bodies way of letting us know there is something wrong. It slows us down so we hopefully won't make the injury worse. Swelling is kind of like the body making it's own splint (sometimes), decreasing the range of motion. Possibly masking symptom with pain meds might not be a good idea anyways. Most animals in serious pain will not be eating, IMO.

Wetting the feed is a great choice. Hopefully it is some recovery you are seeing. With many things there may be good and bad days along the road to recovery. So hang in there! If he passes or you decide to euthanize... please get a necropsy from the state vet to confirm cause and rule out certain things. Tag me for links if needed.

 

[Eggcessive]

I kept a hen alive for 5 weeks who would not drink a drop of water, and could not get to it. She ate wet feed with a lot of water added during that time and recovered back to her normal state. When she eventually became mobile she started drinking again on her own.

 

[Shadrach]

Hey all, I have a rooster about 6 months old that got a neck injury last night. I don’t know if he fell off the perch or what but he definitely got hurt somehow. He won’t hold his head up straight and when he tries to walk he just ends up twisting his head around and flailing around all over the place. He seemed to stand okay for a little bit this morning but really won’t be still for very long. I’m doing my best to keep him immobilized by wrapping him in a towel and blanket but once he decides he’s tired of sitting he tries to get up and walk around and He’s going to end up hurting himself so he can’t be left alone for very long but I can’t stay home from work indefinitely.

He is 100% alert and alive, drinks just fine and gobbled up his breakfast in short order so I’m not ready to give up on him yet. Any suggestions on what to do would be greatly appreciated.

You may find this relevant.
I had all the usual advice. If he eats and drinks and doesn't appear to be in pain then I would try the suggestions above and if none work, Bracket (the hen in the link) might persuade you that time might sort the problem out.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/nuerological-or-something-else.1318208/