Taking Care of Swirls, the Wry Neck Silkie

[Wyorp Rock]

I'd like to try and reintroduce slowly to the flock, just to see. If they act aggressively, then she won't be able to rejoin. If they accept her without too many issues, then I know she'll be able to be around them outside and learn how to be a chicken.

The vet did give her a clean bill of health aside the wry neck. She examined her and said it was a vitamin deficiency, and her stool sample came back negative for anything else (which means the occasionally red stuff is either stress or intestinal shedding).

very small amount of Chick Grit (1x/day, usually lunch, sometimes every 2 days to be safe)

Just leave the grit available free choice - they don't have to have grit mixed with feed.

One of the better ways to re-integrate would be to house her right next to the flock so they can all see another all day long. Depending on the temperament and breed(s) of the flock, she may be picked on - that would be normal, but "should" lessen as time goes by.
It's good the vet examined her. A disease like Marek's can't be ruled in/out upon physical examination - only through necropsy.

 

[NubbyRyuu]

Just leave the grit available free choice - they don't have to have grit mixed with feed.

One of the better ways to re-integrate would be to house her right next to the flock so they can all see another all day long. Depending on the temperament and breed(s) of the flock, she may be picked on - that would be normal, but "should" lessen as time goes by.
It's good the vet examined her. A disease like Marek's can't be ruled in/out upon physical examination - only through necropsy.

If I had a pen or something, I'd put her in it, but I don't have one. She has a lot if different breeds (Silkie, Red Sex Link, Orpington, Plymouth Rock, Swedish Flower Hen, a midget chicken, Leghorn, etc). All their temperments range, but most are friendly. A good chunk are mix breeds. I'm gonna see about some visitations.

Hahaha, yeah no, not killing her to find out if it's Marek's. Be great if a reset button existed in that regard.

 

[NubbyRyuu]

Made a dust bath for her, finally! Grabbed play sand and all purpose organic garden soil, mixed them together in a box, and she became a happy digging chick! I should get little prizes for her though; hasn't figured out it's meant for a dust bath.

 

[NubbyRyuu]

So here's a question, concerning integration. Although I've started introducing fresh water again to Swirly, her eating dry food almost seems like an unlikely transition (although I did this once at night for dinner, she hardly ate the chick feed but was happy to eat the other stuff). Should I try offering her dry food more or is she the kind that's gonna prefer mashes? Not complaining or anything, just curious if it's possible to get her back on dry. I know if she gets thirsty enough she'll drink (she has the instinct to dig in dirt, and kind of dust bathe...maybe I should make it more sandy), but all of Cin's chickens are given dry food (they're also free range so they get bits of everything).

 

[christwodog]

I would present the dry food with a little hard boiled egg in it - see if she likes that, if so, decrease the amount of egg a little bit each day until she's eating mostly just the chick crumbles.
Regarding the integration, I put Leilani in the coop but in her own little fenced off area so they could all see each other but no contact could be made. I did that for about 10 days or so, then let her back in with the others. There was some chasing, pecking, etc. Nothing severe, no blood so I just monitored the situation.

To this day, she is the lowest on the pecking order, even though she is the largest! My barred rocks seem to give her the most grief and she avoids them as best she can. She really wants to be with her flock and do everything they do, but when she gets picked on or stressed, she will regress to the head between her legs, walking backwards. After about 10 seconds she will pull her head up and look around to see if any aggressors are nearby. Sometimes I wonder if it would be better for her to have her own little permanent "condo" connected to the coop/run where she would be next to them but not have to deal with getting picked on. But as I said, there has never been any blood drawn and they don't chase her relentlessly. So you will just have to decide when you see Swirly with the others, but don't be surprised if she is on the bottom of the pecking order. As long as they aren't hurting her and ganging up on her, it should be ok. Swirly may or may not be able to roost like the others, sometimes Leilani just can't balance up there so I put her down between the hay bales that I keep in their coop. But other times she gets up there like nothing's wrong and stays there all night. It's been a heck of a learning experience with Leilani, but I wouldn't trade her for the world, she is the sweetest chicken ever! I'm sure Swirly is grateful for all your efforts!

 

[NubbyRyuu]

I would present the dry food with a little hard boiled egg in it - see if she likes that, if so, decrease the amount of egg a little bit each day until she's eating mostly just the chick crumbles.
Regarding the integration, I put Leilani in the coop but in her own little fenced off area so they could all see each other but no contact could be made. I did that for about 10 days or so, then let her back in with the others. There was some chasing, pecking, etc. Nothing severe, no blood so I just monitored the situation.

To this day, she is the lowest on the pecking order, even though she is the largest! My barred rocks seem to give her the most grief and she avoids them as best she can. She really wants to be with her flock and do everything they do, but when she gets picked on or stressed, she will regress to the head between her legs, walking backwards. After about 10 seconds she will pull her head up and look around to see if any aggressors are nearby. Sometimes I wonder if it would be better for her to have her own little permanent "condo" connected to the coop/run where she would be next to them but not have to deal with getting picked on. But as I said, there has never been any blood drawn and they don't chase her relentlessly. So you will just have to decide when you see Swirly with the others, but don't be surprised if she is on the bottom of the pecking order. As long as they aren't hurting her and ganging up on her, it should be ok. Swirly may or may not be able to roost like the others, sometimes Leilani just can't balance up there so I put her down between the hay bales that I keep in their coop. But other times she gets up there like nothing's wrong and stays there all night. It's been a heck of a learning experience with Leilani, but I wouldn't trade her for the world, she is the sweetest chicken ever! I'm sure Swirly is grateful for all your efforts!

So she does the head tuck thing still? That's what Swirly keeps doing when stressed in some way, including being picked up. After reading this, I almost wonder if there's a way my dad and I can rig something for her, like her own little pen. I mean, it can't be too hard to build a coop for a single chicken, right? Eh, that could just be a thought, though we do have materials stashed around the barn just sitting there. Haha, I'm sure poor Swirly would be at the bottom somewhere, provided she can integrate without issues. She has siblings her age (and younger), and the cockerel of that brood is already showing defensive traits. I know regardless of what happens, she'll always have a home with me (don't care what my mom says).

Thank you for this though. It's nice to hear of someone else who has a chicken going through the same thing. Now I know even if she recovers and does the head tuck thing, it'll be normal for her.

 

[NubbyRyuu]

Swirly did much better with the bedtime routine last night. She didn't flip out and bang around the cage like before. Just some argumentative peeping and then she was quite. This morning she also seemed calmer about wanting to come out and eat. Maybe now she understands a bit. I also put Kiju's mirror in the cage last night. What Swirly thinks of it, I'm not sure. But if it helps give some comfort, then it's not a bad thing. I think I'll return the other things I got. I also ordered her a chicken diaper which should be here in a few days so I can start bringing her outside. The "earth box" I made is perfect for training, but she needs to get out there on the nice days and meet the flock.

 

[PigeonLady]

I have had some success with wryneck chickens giving the human baby vitamin Polyvisol daily. Had birds straighten up and fly right with that stuff. Don't get the kind with iron. After the bird seems better, you can reduce the frequency but they may always need some kind of supplemental vitamins and to be watched carefully for recurrence.

 

[christwodog]

So she does the head tuck thing still? That's what Swirly keeps doing when stressed in some way, including being picked up. After reading this, I almost wonder if there's a way my dad and I can rig something for her, like her own little pen. I mean, it can't be too hard to build a coop for a single chicken, right? Eh, that could just be a thought, though we do have materials stashed around the barn just sitting there. Haha, I'm sure poor Swirly would be at the bottom somewhere, provided she can integrate without issues. She has siblings her age (and younger), and the cockerel of that brood is already showing defensive traits. I know regardless of what happens, she'll always have a home with me (don't care what my mom says).

Thank you for this though. It's nice to hear of someone else who has a chicken going through the same thing. Now I know even if she recovers and does the head tuck thing, it'll be normal for her.

I would watch to see what happens with your roo and Swirly. With my roo, Big Jake, I really try to limit the time he is around Leilani. On the rare occasion where he does jump on her, when he pulls her head feathers to get her to raise her tail, she doesn't raise her tail and she tries to tuck her head completely underneath. This just makes him pull out neck feathers in the process. I don't know if she is unable to raise her tail due to some neurological problem or she just doesn't know what she's supposed to do. So I really don't let him out when she's out, but every now and then they do wind up outside together. Just keep an eye on Swirly when she gets to that age, make sure it's not too much for her with a rooster around.

 

[NubbyRyuu]

I would watch to see what happens with your roo and Swirly. With my roo, Big Jake, I really try to limit the time he is around Leilani. On the rare occasion where he does jump on her, when he pulls her head feathers to get her to raise her tail, she doesn't raise her tail and she tries to tuck her head completely underneath. This just makes him pull out neck feathers in the process. I don't know if she is unable to raise her tail due to some neurological problem or she just doesn't know what she's supposed to do. So I really don't let him out when she's out, but every now and then they do wind up outside together. Just keep an eye on Swirly when she gets to that age, make sure it's not too much for her with a rooster around.

Aww, poor thing! Have you thought of a chicken saddle? That's supposed to "repel" roosters. When Swirly gets old enough, I wouldn't mind getting her one. But that's interesting, I never knew pulling the neck feathers was to get the hen to raise their tail. I always thought that was Slim (the roo) being rough with the hens.