Silkie Wryneck

[Den1959]

We have had this sweet little Silkies since June this year and when we got her home it was discovered that she has a deformed foot as in the photo. It hasn’t held her back.
Just over 4 weeks ago we saw that she was walking backwards and stumbling. We brought her in straight away and realised that she had wryneck.
Up to this point she had been laying but we had to remove her from the coop regularly as she was brooding way too much.
When we read up on her condition we thought it might be vitamin deficiency due to her broodiness and we started with vitamin e capsules 400mu once a day and some egg for the selenium.
We feed her ground down layers mixed with water and tuna and she is eating pretty well if we support her. And feed from a spoon. Sometimes she will raise herself up and look relatively normal but this only lasts a couple of minutes before her neck contorts down to the ground.
A week into treatment I did call our local avian vet but the nurse said due to her age it could well be Marecks and she should be pts.
I don’t want to give up on her but don’t want to allow her to suffer if she has no chicken quality of life.
Would a neck support help? What else could we try? During her treatment we have become very bonded to her and when she sees us come into her room she does respond and can sometimes get her head up. We have also introduced vitamin b complex in the past couple of days.
Any help or advice would be very welcome.

 

[azygous]

How much E and how often is it given? You can increase it to two gel caps per day, morning and night, and add tumeric to it once a day. Giving B complex is also a good idea.

Wry neck doesn't mean she has Marek's. Don't worry about that now. She likely has a stubborn case of wry neck, and Silkies are prone to this.

 

[Den1959]

How much E and how often is it given? You can increase it to two gel caps per day, morning and night, and add tumeric to it once a day. Giving B complex is also a good idea.

Wry neck doesn't mean she has Marek's. Don't worry about that now. She likely has a stubborn case of wry neck, and Silkies are prone to this.

Thank you so much for giving me hope. She is having 400iu vitamin e once per day, but I can of course increase this. I have organic turmeric which I’ve made golden paste with in the past. How much would you recommend please?

 

[azygous]

There are no guidelines for dosing a chicken with tumeric. I just use whatever comes in a tumeric capsule. Tumeric helps with inflammation and it can help treat wry neck.

 

[Den1959]

There are no guidelines for dosing a chicken with tumeric. I just use whatever comes in a tumeric capsule. Tumeric helps with inflammation and it can help treat wry neck.

A little update on Tilly the Silkie. It has now been around 8 weeks since she became unwell and there have been times where we have wondered if we were being cruel. We decided to continue with hand feeding etc. until she showed no interest in food. Today I am cautiously optimistic. Yesterday we took her out to the pen in her cage and she was so happy. Calling to the others and enjoying their presence. She is out there for a couple of hours again today and the amount of times and duration of her “down” times has been so much less. She is even eating dry food from a container we have fastened on the side of the cage. The turmeric didn’t agree with her tummy but we put her on the Nettex drops and continued with the vitamin e and b complex. She has been going through a tremendous moult and looks very unkempt. Please would everyone keep their fingers crossed that she makes it through? Thank you for being here x

 

[WoDia]

I hope all has improved with your little silky. I’m currently treating one of my Bobwhite quail for wryneck. It’s a very long process of treatment, but I’ve been very successful treating it in the past. It can take months sometimes. When I treated it before, my little guy had severe wryneck to the point where he frequently flipped onto his back and couldn’t eat or drink on his own. I fed and gave water every few hours. The first week, I hand-fed a mash moistened with vitamin-infused water using my fingers to gently open the beak and a syringe to place tiny drops on his tongue…. waiting patiently for him to swallow each one. He responded well to the hand-feeding and greatly improved to eat on his own a few weeks later. It took another month to see complete health return. Now, he’s a very happy little guy but is prone to revert unless he gets extra vitamins. Sometimes, a sweet little bird is just prone to ill-health for a number of reasons…. maybe they’re the result of a poor hatch, being bullied, injured, and more. The extra attention we give to help them back to good health makes them even more special to us, in my opinion. Good Wishes!

 

[Den1959]

I hope all has improved with your little silky. I’m currently treating one of my Bobwhite quail for wryneck. It’s a very long process of treatment, but I’ve been very successful treating it in the past. It can take months sometimes. When I treated it before, my little guy had severe wryneck to the point where he frequently flipped onto his back and couldn’t eat or drink on his own. I fed and gave water every few hours. The first week, I hand-fed a mash moistened with vitamin-infused water using my fingers to gently open the beak and a syringe to place tiny drops on his tongue…. waiting patiently for him to swallow each one. He responded well to the hand-feeding and greatly improved to eat on his own a few weeks later. It took another month to see complete health return. Now, he’s a very happy little guy but is prone to revert unless he gets extra vitamins. Sometimes, a sweet little bird is just prone to ill-health for a number of reasons…. maybe they’re the result of a poor hatch, being bullied, injured, and more. The extra attention we give to help them back to good health makes them even more special to us, in my opinion. Good Wishes!

Good morning. Thank you so much for your positive comments. Tilly our Silkie had improved a bit but still wasn’t right so we took her to a vet who knows about poultry. She prescribed medication of antibiotics and anti inflammatory liquid So pleased as just one week later she is doing really well. The vet suspected an inner ear infection. She just needs to feather up properly and get back with her mates

 

[WoDia]

I’m soooo glad to hear that Tilly’s doing better! I have silkies myself. They are precious little birds. Just as you have, I’d go above and beyond for my own. Yay Tilly!

 

[Den1959]

I’m soooo glad to hear that Tilly’s doing better! I have silkies myself. They are precious little birds. Just as you have, I’d go above and beyond for my own. Yay Tilly!

I could tell that you love them as much as I do, particularly when you said about the bonding that happens when they are sick. So many times in the past 3 months we have questioned ourselves as to cruel or kind. I do believe that poor breeding in her case has been a contributing factor to her illness. I watched her today and although she is around 10 months old, she’s so much smaller than even our smallest Pekin. Our black Silkie would literally make two of her. She’s feisty though and will hopefully live a good chicken life

 

[WoDia]

I could tell that you love them as much as I do, particularly when you said about the bonding that happens when they are sick. So many times in the past 3 months we have questioned ourselves as to cruel or kind. I do believe that poor breeding in her case has been a contributing factor to her illness. I watched her today and although she is around 10 months old, she’s so much smaller than even our smallest Pekin. Our black Silkie would literally make two of her. She’s feisty though and will hopefully live a good chicken life

Feisty’s a good sign that your little girl is not going to give up on life. You’ve taken serious steps to ensure she will be a happy little chicken again…. so wonderful. Bird lovers are a special group of people. Last year, I lost my white silky hen, Beulah, to old age. I miss her to this very day. One of the sweetest little birds I’ve ever had the good fortune to raise. I still have her mate and their son; both are equally sweet little roosters. Please continue with updates on Tilly! As far as the wryneck Bobwhite I’m caring for currently…. it’s been a long road with me hand-feeding him every few hours. This morning he began eating totally on his own! It’s sooooo rewarding and heart-warming to see that he’s over the worst of this and is ultimately going to be fine once again. He will most likely be needing extra vitamins the rest of life, but he’s a real fighter and will be spoiled by me all of the rest of his days! Hope your day is a great one!!!!