Severe wry neck/swollen head- Photos added.

[Squishypuff]

One of my 8 week old Silkies started in about 4 days ago with what I now recognize as wry neck. It has progressed to the point of the bird needing assistance to drink due to the extreme curling of the neck down between the legs. The head seems swollen, though not grossly so. It will eat and drink with assistance, and I feel like I need to at least try to see if it can be saved. I am fully prepared to cull should the bird become worse, as of right now it is not in any obvious distress aside from needing help to do things. I have it in a large milk crate with blankets rather than shaving, lest it get shavings in it's eyes or airway. I am helping it drink every hour or so, and have helped it eat some boiled egg a couple times today.

I am following this treatment plan (copied and pasted from another thread)


Twice a day
2.5 mg of prednisone
400 IU of vitamin E

Once a day
A piece of human vitamin B complex pill or a squirt of human liquid vitamins
Selenium (50 micrograms/day for half size juvenile for 3 days)

For the second week I give

Once a day
2.5 mg of prednisone
400 IU of vitamin E
A piece of human vitamin B complex pill or a squirt of human liquid vitamins

Every other day
Selenium (50 micrograms/day for half size juvenile for 3 days)

For the following weeks I give

Once a day
2.5 mg of prednisone
400 IU of vitamin E
A piece of human vitamin B complex pill or a squirt of human liquid vitamins

Every third day
Selenium (50 micrograms/day for half size juvenile for 3 days)

Do not abruptly stop prednisone, the swelling rebounds, decrease dose
gradually.
Vitamin E recovery can be slow; continue the vitamin E for several weeks at
least.


But I have questions. For one, the plan states to scale back med amounts for smaller birds. This bird is an 8 weeker- should I just give half of the doses outlined above? Also, the vitamin B complex I found is liquid- how much to give?

I'm working on my vet for prednisone, they haven't called me back yet, and I know they do not see birds so they may or may not be willing to sell it to me. If I cannot get it from them, I'll try my horse vet.

How often should I be helping the bird eat and drink? Any tips on getting it to eat? It gets rather distressed when I forcibly put a bit of egg in it's beak, but then it eats the piece. am I doing more harm than good?

Any suggestions on other things I can do to help, keep it comfortable, etc are very much appreciated. I've done a ton of research on this today, but tips are always very welcome!

 

[Squishypuff]

I'm going to bump for the afternoon/evening crowd... Anyone? What constitutes a "squirt" of vitamins?

 

[Amyable]

'Squirt' is a technical term, I guess.

How about a couple drops?

 

[Squishypuff]

Yes, very technical! Kind of like when a recipe calls for a dash of something. I never have figured that out either. For tonight I gave the chick a few drops, better too little for now than too much, I think...

 

[Squishypuff]

In case anyone is interested, I thought I would update on my little fluffball. After just a day of treatment with the Vit E, Vit B, Selenium, and Prednisone the improvement is incredible. It can now walk around somewhat, rather than just flailing around everywhere. It can hold its neck up normally for short bursts of time, and can eat and drink without assistance. It still has a long way to go, and I'm not going to get too excited yet, but I think there is hope.

 

[luvinrunnin]

That's great to hear!!

 

[Squishypuff]

I am just blown away at how fast he is improving. I'm waiting for the setback, I'm such a pessimist! But really, yesterday it was rolling around the cage like a tumbleweed with it's head and neck all grotesquely twisted under it. Amazing. Hope it doesn't turn out to be a rooster. LOL.

 

[Tikkijane]

Quote:

Glad to hear of the improvement!

 

[Squishypuff]

"Twisty" is doing great today. Up, walking around. Not much more than a head tilt, and is able to eat and drink without help. Twisty has also started pooping at a more normal frequency, so I know it is getting enough to eat. I kind of want to give Twisty a bath, the poof on its head is all covered in poo and food and stuff from the first couple days of dragging its head along the floor of the cage- but I don't want to add additional stress or issues so I think I'll leave well enough alone. I'm going to take Twisty out in the yard in a bit to free range and see how things are going in terms of movement, where there is room for some more significant movement.

 

[Squishypuff]

(sorry if my updates are getting old, but I thought it would be good to document Twisty's progress for future people searching for info on treating wry neck)

Twisty is doing great! He/she/it went out again to free range with the Silkie herd and scarfed down some blueberry applesauce and half a boiled egg. He's walking totally normally, and his head/neck set is close to normal. He still has a fairly obvious head tilt, but the difference is phenomenal. I keep meaning to post the before, and current pics. i am so glad I did not cull, and instead gave this little fluffbutt a shot.