Silkies

[John Simpson]

Hi everyone I am a new member and have very little experience with chickens. Last summer I got 3 silkie chicks and raised them. Not very far into the process my brown silkie go ry neck and we tried to nurse her back to Heath. We tried all the remedies on this site and they didn't seem to work for her and it was so bad that we had no choice then to put her down . A few months later my white silkie couldn't walk and refused to eat anything. And she died of starvation we even tried to hand feed her but nothing worked we also tried vitamins and it didn't work. Now this week my other white silkie had what seemed to be ry neck and would not eat only a little every day she died today of starvation even though we hand feed her and made sure she drank. I don't know what I could be doing wrong with these birds . Please help. I love chickens and would love more but I don't want them to die. HELP!!!!!!!

 

[TwoCrows]

I am so sorry about your Silkies.

I don't keep them, so I don't have a lot of experience to offer you. But I do know that they can be susceptible to vitamin deficiencies. I think you need to post this question in our emergency section here on BYC for more help with this....

https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/10/emergencies-diseases-injuries-and-cures

I am very sorry and I hope you can get this resolved soon.

 

[sourland]

Welcome to BYC - have you been providing your birds a complete/balanced poultry ration?

 

[TwoCrows]

Make sure you are keeping the hair trimmed out of their eyes. If they can't see to eat they can starve to death.

 

[gander007]

Alright

great to have you joining the BYC flock

 

[Kelsie2290]

Hello and Welcome To BYC! Sorry about your losses.

 

[drumstick diva]

Wry neck is common in silkies - it is either caused by nutrional deficiencies or a peck or bump to the head. Silkies with vaulted skulls tend to have an opening like "soft spot" in human babies. I've heard of many cases of wry neck but, never heard of birds dying from it. There is no quick fix. It takes commitment to see them through the healing process.

My friend has a silky roo that had it as a chick, he would walk backwards, fall a lot, usually kept his head near the ground between his feet. She gave him 2 drops of Polyvisol infant drops 3 times a day, as well as a few drops squeezed out of vit. e capsule.

He eventually came out of it, he is several years old and crows his head off. He lives with 3 bantam hens - as a house chicken.

There are many things that can be done for a bird with wry neck, in some cases they respond to
prednisone prescribed by a vet and under his supervision. You can also gently massage the neck in the direction it should go.

Anything you can get the bird to eat/drink is great. My friend bird would only eat the drops off a piece of grape. He also liked plain yogurt and finely mashed boiled egg yolk. Sometimes a bird likes the idea of you hand feeding it. If you put a little sugar in the water, your bird may drink it.

You may want to check out the silkie threads - so experienced people can give you the benefit of their knowledge. Put "Silkie thread," in the search box and post your problem there. You can also
do a search for "Wry Neck," - there should be many responses.