Twisted neck Cochin rooster

[hbhuffman]

Hi everyone. My name is Heather and i am new at this chicken thing. We have a black Cochin rooster that's about 6-7 mos old and for the last several weeks we have noticed that something is wrong with his neck. We we walk up to the chicken run he cocks his neck sideways, sometimes nearly 180 degrees. Now he's in the hen house running around in circles with his head cocked sideways. Anyone have any idea what could be causing this or how I could help him? He used to be the cock of the flock. Please respond.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Could be wry neck/crookneck from a vitamin deficiency, disease/infection, or injury.

I would personally start with giving some vitamins to see if that helps. There is a "let's talk wry neck" thread you can search byc for if interested.

Also- you can see how a thiamine deficiency can cause "stargazing" here (cured at the end with vitamins):
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/592825/chick-with-wry-neck-treated/10

Some on BYC also give selenium and Vit E along with a regular vitamin supplement like Poly vi sol without iron (search BYC) or poultry vitamins from the feed store to try to cure wry neck. Be careful not to oversupplement and unfortunately I don't know any dosages as I have never had to deal with it myself.

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044
diagnosis charts at bottom- see twisted neck

I think you might have good results with some vitamins if a deficiency is all it is.

 

[hbhuffman]

Thank you very much for the reply. We live in a small community with only a Dollar Store so I will see if they have anything I can buy tomorrow or may have to wait til the feed store opens on Monday. I will post progress notes as he progresses. Thanx again!