Strange Neck Issue

[Mtn Laurel]

Could they have gotten into bad food? Moldy feed? Compost? Rotting vegetation? You may want to consider botulism, which occurs more in warm weather. Symptoms include limp neck and paralysis of feet, legs, etc.

A few links: https://transact.nt.gov.au/ebiz/dbi...8166171BB86BF6A69256EFE004F670B/$file/792.pdf

http://www.merckmanuals.com/vet/pou...view_of_botulism_in_poultry.html?qt=&sc=&alt=

http://www.helium.com/items/1387367-poultry-diseases-botulism

 

[V-NH]

From reading the links you posted, I don't think it is botulism. They are eating and drinking in the stock tank that I put them in. In fact, when I found the black sex link it was flopping around the coop to get something to drink. The links suggest that if they have botulism they won't be able to eat or drink.

They only have access to fresh water and fresh layer pellets from a hanging feeder, so I have no idea where they would catch it.

 

[Mtn Laurel]

Glad you were able to at least eliminate it as a possible cause and sure hope you find out what's going on.

 

[V-NH]

I am thinking that my rooster is injuring them. He is about 6 months old, whereas my pullets are only 16 weeks old. I have noticed that when he mounts them, he is really forcing them to the ground quite violently and they are freaking out and struggling to get away from him. I separated him from them and put him into the duck enclosure for now. My intention is to do that and see if any more are sick and/or injured tomorrow. If the injuries stop, at least I will know that he was the cause.

 

[V-NH]

The white leghorn seems to be sitting up although its neck is still pushed off to the side. The black sex link has gotten worse. Its neck is now twisted so much it is virtually upside down.

 

[R.M.Qureshi]

Dear V-NH,

Trust me and start the medicine I recommended. You will get immediate results.

Fill a syringe to 5 cc with water.
empty in a cup. add three drops each of Calc phos 30 and Kali phos 30 also add Causticum 30 in water.
Refill the syringe and Drench.


Dose twice a day. Continue till cure.

 

[V-NH]

There were no new cases this morning. The rest of my flock seems to be perfectly fine and healthy now that I separated my rooster from them. He truly was being very aggressive when he tried to mate. Several times a day I would literally hear chickens screaming and trying to get away from him. I shouldn't have put a mature rooster in with 15-16 week old pullets. I'll keep an eye on it over the next few days and update this thread if any of my other chickens drop.

The leghorn that was injured has become active again, though she is very clearly deformed in the neck area. Her head is facing forward, but it is pushed back and off to the side with a huge bump on her chest. It is like something was dislocated. The black sex link is not doing well at all. Her neck isn't twisted anymore, but she doesn't walk or even open her eyes. She just lays there and once in a while flops around. I imagine that I am probably going to have to put her down today. Which sucks, because I told my wife that she could only name a couple of my chickens (How do you name 16+ identical white leghorns? We refer to them, collectively, as "Frank".) She named the two black sex links and they have become the more pet-like birds while we look at our other birds more like production livestock. From reading this forum, it always seems like the "favorites" are the first to go

 

[V-NH]

The black sex link died this afternoon. We examined its remains for signs of Marek's, but we didn't see any lesions and the skin seemed pretty normal. We did notice a couple of pinpoint sized bugs crawling around under its feathers, but I don't know if they were there before it died or not. The white leghorn is still holding on, eating, drinking, and appears mobile even though it is all kinds of messed up. Here is an updated picture of its status. Its head doesn't appear twisted, but rather just like it is in the wrong spot on its body.

 

[realsis]

I'm so sorry for your loss! Do you think its possible the white one has wry neck? I've had two cases in my own flock this last month and symptoms are quite similar. My first bird healed 100% thank God and I'm into my second week of treatment on my next bird
She is now able to walk forward and eat and drink herself which is a huge improvement. Her neck is still mis placed although she is getting better. Hopefully within the next week or so she will also heal. I would start treatment for wry neck and see if she has improvements. Be patient it can take aprox 3 weeks to a month sometimes to heal. The quicker the treatment is started the better. Again I'm sorry for your loss and hope this helps.

 

[V-NH]

Well, it is definitely Marek's Disease. I went out to the garage this morning and it went from being active, moving around, eating and drinking, to this overnight:




My number one concern right now is that I have ten seven day old chicks that I received last week from Ideal Hatchery. I specifically opted not to get the Marek's vaccination for them, so I know that they are completely susceptible to the disease. I've now lost two chickens to Marek's and neither showed any symptoms or warning signs before becoming completely messed up. The rest of my flock appears unaffected so far. But again, the ten chicks I have are completely unvaccinated.

To make matters worse, when I went outside this morning my broiler pen was messed up and I had to chase little fatties all over the yard for a half an hour. When I finally got around to collecting them all and putting them back, I noticed that one of my Cornish X and one of my turkeys were dead and their faces looked like they had been eaten while the rest of their bodies were untouched. Three additional Cornish X were missing, but one ended up waddling back over while I was still out there. The final two are still MIA. There were no signs that anything big got into their pen, but I have half of it uncovered so something could have flown in. That, or they attacked each other then waddled to separate sides of the pen to die. Up to this point, my Cornish X mortality rate was 0%.

I've got a large shipment of Cornish X due to arrive next week. Should I contact the hatchery and ask them to give them Marek's vaccination? I feel like my flock is falling apart!