Twisted upside-down head and chest pecking?

[ticketism]

Haha, he knows it too. So unimpressed with his snazzy neckwear, but it's better than getting your head stuck between your legs and doing somersaults xD

 

[mg15]

I am so glad he is getting better and almost perfect. Thank you for continuing to post.
This is how we all learn. And is there a lot to learn about chickens.
Thank you.

 

[ticketism]

Handsome boy, getting better and better =)

It broke my heart seeing so many people in past threads and other forums say they culled chicks with this condition simply because they couldn't find any information to help them. I know sometimes it's the only humane thing to do, but for this it's just a matter of changing their food for a bit. Younger chicks tend to have it more commonly, and they also recover a lot quicker, and need less of the vitamins (think of the dosage for a human, then the difference in weight between and average adult human and the average young chick). I seriously hope someone uses the forum search engine before taking that route in the future and can end up saving their feathered friends lives. Thanks to everyone from for being so responsive and supportive!

 

[mg15]

I am giving you this post because people like yourself are so thoughtful
and creative. https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1069400/chicken-cant-keep-her-butt-down#post_16292421

Great pictures here too.

 

[Sachiko]

My baby is doing the same thing

I'm treating her as though she has wry neck; but her crop is swollen too. She was given to me at the pet store and I'd guess she's about 3 weeks old.

 

[Sachiko]

Okay I'm updating again in the hopes it helps someone in the same situation some time.

I honestly didn't think my boy was gonna make it, he was so bad. Then I got him on vitamin B complex, vitamin E, vitamin A, electrolyte water, and a feed mix of scrambled eggs, tuna, chopped Brazil nuts, chopped leafy greens and sunflower oil with his grower pellets mixed through... He improved so amazingly. It was quick at first, but it's slowed down a bit so I hope he continues to improve even if it does take a while.

I made him neck braces out of toilet rolls (which really seemed to help), and my girlfriend had the great idea to put him inside our huge netted off veggie garden. He did so well eating and drinking by himself when he was able to run around, scratch the dirt, peck at the plants and sunbathe. He even made me chase him around the yard and climb under the hedges to fetch him from one of his favourite dust bathing spot when he managed to get out of the veggie patch. He lost his place in the pecking order and couldn't get along with our other cockerel and 2 pullets, but he had so much spirit back. He started not wanting to put up with me feeding him vitamins, which I take as a good sign, hahaha. He actually seems almost exactly like his old self, then occasionally has an episode, but they're getting less severe, shorter, and less frequent. It's usually worse at night though, so I propped his neck up on a rolled up towel so he could rest better.

Here he is wearing his neck brace one evening. It doesn't even truly show his improvement coz I didn't manage t get photos of him running around outside during the day, but as you can see, he's keeping his chin up =)

And! Merry Christmas from my special little guy!

Can you please give a detailed meal prep???

 

[ticketism]

Sure. He was 1.2kgs or so at the time, so the dosage for vitamins will change depending on relative body weight, but I pretty much just guessed by averaging dpsahe/weight for humans and scaled down.

He got:

Two large eggs, scrambled, no shell.
4 good sized Brazil nuts, finely chopped
1.5 cups of leafy greens (rocket and baby spinach)
2 tbsp sunflower oil
170g tuna chunks, drained

We mixed this all up together in a plastic take-away container. I propped him up on my lap, under my arm like a football and dipped his beak into the mix. At first he didn't want to eat it, but once he got the fishy taste on his beak his eyes lit up and he went to town xD If he started having an episode during the feeding (often triggered by bending his neck down so much), I'd lift his head back up by putting my fingers under his chin and he'd keep eating. When I was satisfied he'd had enough nutrient-rich food, I'd mix in a small handful of his pellets and let him eat as much more as he liked.

Every morning I gave him a B complex tablet, chopped up into pieces that he'd just peck right off my hand. A vitamin A cap, and 2 vitamin E caps, which are both oil and meant I had to hold him tightly, poke a hole in the capsule with a safety pin, force his beak open and squirt it down his throat. He was not impressed, hahaha. I'd immediately offer a bowl of water, that had a paediatric electrolyte mix in it. Had to make sure he was drinking and eating enough so I checked on him at least 4 times a day to feed/water him but often a lot more just to watch over him.

After a few days, he became so much better we let him supervised outdoor time and made sure he was safe. We dropped his vitamins E and A to 1 capsule daily after about a week of him showing steady improvement. Another week, half a B, half both an A and an E. Then after about another week, just those things every second day. Just gradually reducing until he was better. He would get his special food twice a day for a fortnight, supplemented with his normal feed. After that we'd just give him the special food every few days, then maybe once a week as a treat. We give all the others the mix too, it's really good for them and they love it!

He's a changed man now, you'd never know he was ever sick. He Crows, runs around, makes friends, is as cheeky as ever, and is a beautiful, funny little guy =)

 

[ticketism]

If your chicken is about 3 weeks old, I'd go with using about a third of everything I did for my boy, or it might be too much. Our boy was about 3 months when he took ill, so I'm sure he weighed a lot more than your three week old. Fortunately, the younger they are, the easier it is for them to recover from this =) Good luck!

 

[ticketism]

For those who will still stumble across this thread, even years from now, and find useful information to help save your birds - I present to you *drumroll* ... Little Orpy, the pluckiest of the cluckiest, and not to mention the luckiest - My little soldier boy himself, growing big and strong, crowing and the head of his very own flock! Completely healed and looking fiiiiiine! Such a handsome boy (though yes, I am biased), who is living The Life after knocking on Deaths door. I'm glad I never gave up on him, and you shouldn't either. Please do all you can to help your birds through an illness like this. Orpy would have died without my intervention, and so many people told us to cull him... Yet here he is today, tall, proud, healthy and strong. I'm so, so proud of my little soldier boy:

Attaboy kiddo, attaboy

 

[mg15]

For those who will still stumble across this thread, even years from now, and find useful information to help save your birds - I present to you *drumroll* ... Little Orpy, the pluckiest of the cluckiest, and not to mention the luckiest - My little soldier boy himself, growing big and strong, crowing and the head of his very own flock! Completely healed and looking fiiiiiine! Such a handsome boy (though yes, I am biased), who is living The Life after knocking on Deaths door. I'm glad I never gave up on him, and you shouldn't either. Please do all you can to help your birds through an illness like this. Orpy would have died without my intervention, and so many people told us to cull him... Yet here he is today, tall, proud, healthy and strong. I'm so, so proud of my little soldier boy:





Attaboy kiddo, attaboy

For those who will still stumble across this thread, even years from now, and find useful information to help save your birds - I present to you *drumroll* ... Little Orpy, the pluckiest of the cluckiest, and not to mention the luckiest - My little soldier boy himself, growing big and strong, crowing and the head of his very own flock! Completely healed and looking fiiiiiine! Such a handsome boy (though yes, I am biased), who is living The Life after knocking on Deaths door. I'm glad I never gave up on him, and you shouldn't either. Please do all you can to help your birds through an illness like this. Orpy would have died without my intervention, and so many people told us to cull him... Yet here he is today, tall, proud, healthy and strong. I'm so, so proud of my little soldier boy:





Attaboy kiddo, attaboy

Do you know what the name of his condition, what he was diagnosed with that put him in the condition.?