Silkie chicken with head thrown back over back and spinning neck almost 360!

[Stephanie.Island.Life]

Hi, my 1 year old Silkie hen starting acting a little 'floppy' about 4 weeks ago and erratically pecking at her food. We have just come back from holiday ( chicken sitters replacing food and water every other day) and she is now resting/ walking/ sleeping with her head thrown back over her body looking straight up at the sky. She can hold it straight but 90% of the time it's in this crazy position. She is also at times circling round and round on the spot several times before falling. Her poop looks fine, she is eating and drinking although not as much as before and cleaning herself. There are no obvious signs of trauma- no lumps- and no squeals of pain on touching her. We had a chicken death 1 month previous where one of my other hens stopped eating after losing the use of her legs (even with hand feeding for the last 5 days)- not sure if this is related or not. They are a very small flock in a small, safe grassed area at the bottom of our garden and the coop is kept very clean with clean water and all the proper foods. As I don't know if she is in any pain I am wondering if anyone else has ever had any experience of this and knows if there is anything I can do for her and also if there's anything that causes a risk to the other Silkies in the coop? Any help would be much appreciated Xx

 

[azygous]

It's called star gazing or rye neck. It's treatable with vitamin E and selenium. Use a whole capsule of E and just a sliver of the selenium. She ought to be fine in a few days, but keep up the vitamins for a week or two.

 

[coach723]

Just wanted to add that silkies are more prone to this as a breed. Here is an article that discusses it a bit, and the various causes: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/wry-neck-causes-treatment-and-prevention.67732/
Vitamin deficiency is a common cause and hopefully the vitamin supplementing will get her improved. You may have to help her eat and drink until you see some improvement, you don't want her getting dehydrated or starving on top of it.