Twisted upside-down head and chest pecking?

[ticketism]

Seemed to be Vitamin Deficient Encephalmalacia - Otherwise know an 'Crazy Chick Syndrome' and a form of Wry Neck. It was caused by a deficiency in vitamins E, A, and B, so giving him large (for a chicken) doses of all of the above, daily or multiple times daily, and feeding him extremely nutrient dense, high selenium food for quite some time healed him right up. I had to do it by hand, every day, several times, to make sure he was eating and drinking, and yes it was confronting watching him contort like that, ending up walking backwards and tumbling right over, sometimes even putting so much pressure on his crop that he'd actually throw up. Without a doubt, he was going to die had we not intervened. Apparently the vitamin deficiency that causes Encephalmalacia is pretty common, and is usually completely reversible.

 

[ticketism]

Yet another update photo, because I am so proud of my little soldier boy! Here he is about a week ago, loving life and looking good =) I know he's not amazingly 'Orpington standard' according to the breed type guidelines, he was always the runt even before he got sick, but he's a handsome boy, and regardless of breed standards I think he's beautiful =)

 

[ticketism]

Oh, sorry, I know this was a long time ago and all, but I had a 'like' notification then when I reread the thread I realised I hadn't mentioned why this happened to him, as another user had asked. I think that because he was always the runt he was probably already more susceptible, and it's not unlikely that he maybe wasn't getting enough of the grower pellets with free-ranging all day everyday and the other chickens maybe hogging the feed a bit, so that would've set him right up for being a little weakened to begin with. But ultimately, I believe what pushed it over the edge was the Styrofoam. There was so much in his poop and I found little beads of it everywhere that were from older droppings that had already broken down, so clearly he had found a big stash of the stuff somewhere and enjoyed pecking it up so much that he was essentially 'starving on a full stomach'. Crop full of Styrofoam = no room or desire for actual proper food, and since Styrofoam has absolutely no nutritional value, after some time he became deficient to the point of extreme sickness. This is why I prefer feeding my birds complete feed pellets rather than a food + grain mix - They pick out the tasty parts while ignoring less tasty bits, meaning they're not getting the complete nutrition they need. Like kids just eating the marshmallows out of their cereal. So, lesson learned. Check around your flocks' ranging area thoroughly to make sure there's nothing unhealthy or dangerous about that they may unwittingly hurt themselves by eating. Sorry for bumping such an old and resolved thread, but I figured it was still relevant to answer the question as people search he forums and Google for these kinds of things even years down the line, and it could be the exact info someone is looking for.

 

[micstrachan]

I just read through this and appreciate the info! Orphan is a handsome boy! When he was sick, was he actually pecking his chest or just curling into that position?

 

[ticketism]

Well it looked like he was pecking at his chest or crop, and maybe he was the first couple of nights while his crop was stuffed absolutely full of Styrofoam (as evidenced by the fact that his crop felt so full it was tight and after feeding him oil soaked bread his droppings were nearly entirely Styrofoam)... Maybe it became impacted or something due to having trouble passing the large buildup. But after a few days in his hospital box being fed lots of nutrient dense food and having had the foam passed through because of the makeshift laxative, he would still put his head down like that and kinda squirm around in a similar way. I think he was having muscular spasms in the neck, caused by the nutrition deficiency. It could've been a combination at the beginning, where he was spasming and also experiencing probably severe discomfort (ever gone overboard at an all you can eat buffet? Imagine that feeling for days on end, haha, you'd probably be grabbing at yourstomach too!) so it looked so much worse. But withina few days I noticed he really didn't have control so he wasn't doing it entirely consciousl. I mean, he'd even end up with his head so farbetween his legs he'd walk backwards and do somersaults Sometimes he'd push so hard on his crop he ended up vomiting on himself, poor boy I think he was fighting it but sometimes couldn't help it due to illness and sometimes just got desperate trying to alleviate the discomfort. As you can see from the rest of the thread, he did end up coming good and he got better with special food and safe supervised free ranging... I just wish he could tell me how much he had control over it and how much was just him trying to make himself feel better! Hahaha. But I suppose that's always the way with animal care - They can't tell you and that makes it that much harder! He didn't peck any feathers out or anything, even at his worst, so if the pecking was ever intentional I'd say it was just out of pain/discomfort and maybe to make himself vomit. It continued for a good few weeks and he seemed pretty irritated by it eventually (hence the Tube Of Shame haha), so I doubt it was ever 100% under his control. I'm just glad I did manage to find info on wry neck and what causes it/how to treat it, or I have no doubt he wouldn't be around today!

 

[cynrg8]

The brace idea was genius! My favorite hen started showing all of these symptoms and would keep her head curled up to the point she was unable to eat or drink. I put the brace on her as of today and it’s definitely helped. I also started her on some vitamins and giving her some eggs and leafy greens and now I’m hoping for the best

 

[scostanzo]

Yet another update photo, because I am so proud of my little soldier boy! Here he is about a week ago, loving life and looking good =) I know he's not amazingly 'Orpington standard' according to the breed type guidelines, he was always the runt even before he got sick, but he's a handsome boy, and regardless of breed standards I think he's beautiful =)

He looks so good! I have a cockerel that is having the same symptoms. I am so thankful for your post! Can I ask how long it took for him to show improvement? My guy has been in my homemade chicken ICU and seems somewhat better. Thanks!