Silkie thread!

[Sylvester017]

My earlier post seems to have been lost along the way. If you are feeding medicated chick starter you should cease when you suspect wry neck. Thiamine ( vitamin B ) deficiency is one of the main contributors to star gazing / wry neck. Amprolium used to control coccidiosis is a thiamine blocker.
It works on starving the coccidia and at the same time can cause a deficiency in some birds.
There is no way of knowing which vitamin your bird is lacking in, so it is a process of elimination.
If it is thiamine then stopping medicated feed and administering polyvisol may bring results.

You beat me to the punch with this info. Thanks for chiming in, you lifesaver!

My friend had a free day-old incubator chick given to her to nurse about 3 years ago however we didn't know what to do for it. It was a LF chick (don't remember what breed) and we spent days trying to keep it standing and holding its neck but as soon as we let go when we thought it was standing, it threw its head and fell backwards but on its back still tried to peck at the feed. It still had an appetite but couldn't eat standing up. Little did we know THEN about giving it the vitamin treatment as wry neck seems to greatly improve with the vitamin B. Sadly it was culled by the original breeder who didn't have time to spend with it.

What dummies we were and didn't know about BYC then! Again Fancychooklady to the rescue! Next to my vet she's a wealth of help!

 

[Sylvester017]

Forgot to mention baby aspirin is to reduce the swelling from the possible brain trauma. The neck brace I made out if toilet paper roll was used by measuring her neck ad then cutting it in half long way and then stapling it. It will slide right over.

Just a little chiming in if I may share. Per my vet he's not into using aspirin on small fowl because of possible internal organ damage like liver pancreas stomach etc. He does however prescribe metacam oral for daily dosage to my Silkie for swelling/inflammation. He's even cautious about the baby vitamin Poly-Vi-Sol but told him I use the no iron variety sparingly no more than one drop 2-3x week for my chickens. He was okay with the low dose and limited use - I give about 2 drops per LF 2x a week and 1 drop per Silkie 2x/week - broody Silkies get one extra drop per week. Of course, we were talking about "healthy" chicken care. For a wry neck chick it will need probably daily doses of a drop maybe spread out over several applications during the day. Don't want to give a little chick a whole dropperful of any medicine at once. There are different vit C forms and the orange in baby aspirin is not the best for fowl.

A good trick I picked up on youtube about giving oral liquid medication and it works great w/our LF and Silkies. Instead of forcing the beak open and possibly having liquid medicine go down into its lungs, we put a drop of the med on the side of the beak away from the nostril and the bird will open its mouth and lick off the annoying drip with its tongue. Sometimes a bird will shake off the drop so just put another drop on the side of the beak, it eventually licks the annoying drop. We have one LF and one Silkie that actually run up to us to get their vitamin drop now because we never forced their beaks open. The 2nd Silkie is beginning to look forward to the dropper when she sees it.

Everyone is different and has good experience to share. Just hoping some of this will help someone as it was my experience along with a vet's input.

One thing I would love to see is a photo of someone's chick with a wry neck neckbrace. A picture saves a 1000 words.

 

[Fancychooklady]

You beat me to the punch with this info. Thanks for chiming in, you lifesaver!

My friend had a free day-old incubator chick given to her to nurse about 3 years ago however we didn't know what to do for it. It was a LF chick (don't remember what breed) and we spent days trying to keep it standing and holding its neck but as soon as we let go when we thought it was standing, it threw its head and fell backwards but on its back still tried to peck at the feed. It still had an appetite but couldn't eat standing up. Little did we know THEN about giving it the vitamin treatment as wry neck seems to greatly improve with the vitamin B. Sadly it was culled by the original breeder who didn't have time to spend with it.

What dummies we were and didn't know about BYC then! Again Fancychooklady to the rescue! Next to my vet she's a wealth of help!

BYC is a wealth of information. Sometimes it's a matter of reading pages and pages of research and other times it will be just conversing with someone that has experience with the illness in question.
I too have on occasion had to visit our avian vet. He is a lovely old American gentleman and is heavily involved in chicken industry here. I also have an equine vet and a normal vet for cows , goats and domestic animals, both of whom will gladly admit that they are as ' useless as tits on a
Bull ' ( pardon the expression )when it comes to chickens.
I try to be a responsible caretaker to all my animals . Be aware , take notes, take action.

 

[BuckNBark Farm]

Pam, I'm not warning people off medicated feed, coccocidiosis kills very quickly, I'm just saying that for birds with wry neck it could be doing more harm than good.

Oh- I meant I was feeding my wry-neck chick chick starter (the one that I had last year). Still gonna feed medicated to the others. Thanks!

 

[Sylvester017]

does anyone know if amber waves silkies are good quality?

Yes - Silkies are their specialty. Google Amber Waves Silkies to go to their website. I have dealt with them and they have been very kind and helpful with a couple questions I had. They also kindly referred me to BYC at which time I didn't realize how great BYC info was. They also have a video of the time the Tori Spelling reality show came to their facility to pick out a Silkie for their children. Sometimes you can see photos of Ms Spelling in evening attire holding a White Silkie - it is an Amber Waves Silkie in the photos.

Now I've never had Amber Waves Silkie stock but in future it is where I will get my birds. They also provide the $25 lab service fee to guarantee the sex of your bird. There is a waiting period to get the results but you are guaranteed to know the sex of your bird if you choose. They are nice but busy folks but in my estimation run a professional operation. Most customers are amazed at the well-kept facilities - they also have baby goats on the farm.

 

[BuckNBark Farm]

Lavender (self blue) chick under his/her white foster moms that hatched him (last night, and he's all over the place, already eating while his moms are still on eggs). Also a buffy Porcelain (blue cream) under his foster moms that hatched him/her. _Pam Pittman

 

[Fancychooklady]

Lavender (self blue) chick under his/her white foster moms that hatched him (last night, and he's all over the place, already eating while his moms are still on eggs). Also a buffy Porcelain (blue cream) under his foster moms that hatched him/her. _Pam Pittman

 

[Sylvester017]

BYC is a wealth of information. Sometimes it's a matter of reading pages and pages of research and other times it will be just conversing with someone that has experience with the illness in question.
I too have on occasion had to visit our avian vet. He is a lovely old American gentleman and is heavily involved in chicken industry here. I also have an equine vet and a normal vet for cows , goats and domestic animals, both of whom will gladly admit that they are as ' useless as tits on a
Bull ' ( pardon the expression )when it comes to chickens.
I try to be a responsible caretaker to all my animals . Be aware , take notes, take action.

I agree, most vets are not knowledgeable about avian care. My vet moved into the neighborhood around 10-12 years ago and advertised not only dogs and cats but avian care also. Years later the dogs and cats took over the bulk of his business. When I called to ask them if he could see my Silkie as I remembered he advertised avian care in the past, the staff said Yes. The doctor is very thorough with our birds. He has an instant instinct on what is going on but still gives thorough exams. His nursing staff said he'd have a pen of chickens in the office yard if he could he loves them that much. He's of middle-Eastern descent and a very kind person. Everyone at the office always looks forward to our Silkie when we bring her in. A refreshing change from the hyper dogs and fearful cats that come into their office.

I've been to him 3x in 9 months with the same Silkie because of various injuries she gets from being so small and OCD. He weighs her every time and this last visit she gained and is at 2.46 lbs now. Not a whopping weight but better than the 2.2 lbs last time.

 

[Sylvester017]

Lavender (self blue) chick under his/her white foster moms that hatched him (last night, and he's all over the place, already eating while his moms are still on eggs). Also a buffy Porcelain (blue cream) under his foster moms that hatched him/her. _Pam Pittman

Nothing so satisfying as watching healthy chicks zipping around a natural broody momma!

 

[BuckNBark Farm]

Both of my Silkie chicks passed.

I was really looking forward to having some.

OH, so sorry