I have a silkie that is about 10 weeks old and went out to check on them and she was lying in a corner with her neck bent under her body. She can straighten it out some but keeps going back to putting it under her body and laying down that way. she almost looks like she is scratching her stomach but then lays down and stays with it tucked underneath. She was fine yesterday and will eat and drink if we place it right in front of the food/water. Could it be an injury or is it a disease? There is no broken skin or other visible signs.
Could be wry neck which is treatable with Vitamin E, but you have to give selenium with it or their body doesn't absorb it.
It sounds like encephalomalcia, which is wry neck caused by a vitamin deficiency. Start vitamins including E, B1, and the mineral selenium. Poultry vitamins such as Rooster Booster, Poultry Cell, Poultry Nutri-Drench, or Avian Super Pack can be used. Temporarily, PolyVisol without Iron 2-3 drops daily by mouth can be used. Selenium is found in eggs, low sodium canned tuna, sunflower seeds, and ground up Brazil nuts. Limit stimulation, but make sure that she gets help with feeding and drinking. Here are a couple of links to read: http://partnersah.vet.cornell.edu/avian-atlas/node/600 http://www.browneggblueegg.com/Article/Crookneck/Crookneck.html http://www.thepoultrysite.com/disea...alacia-exudative-diathesis-muscular-dystrophy
Thank you so much, I will try all of this and have already removed her from her friends. I just wonder how they get a vitamin deficiency? I only feed them chick grower, just changed from chick starter, with no scraps and only meal worms occasionally. I keep the water and pen clean and she only lives with 3 other silkies the same age. Is there something else I should be giving them so the others don't develop the same thing?
