UPDATE!!! Please Help! Twisting backward neck....URGENT!!!! PLEASE!!

[zowieyellowflame]

Well there you have it. I got vitamin E and separately, selenium. i crushed the selenium and mixed it with the vitamin e. 400 of the e, 50 of the selenium though I doubt it all made it into her system. I had a tough time.... I cooked an egg, dipped it in the mixture, continued until all of the mixture was sopped up, but then she got full. Adventually though she took it as a late night snack. She is still pretty messed up and if not for this site she would have been culled hours ago.
I am worried about dehydration though. I have a syringe but how do I give water with it when her head is all twisted this way and that? I feel like I will get it in her airway.
Also, how could this be a vitamin deficiency? I feed grower, shouldn't that give her all she needs? She also has access to layer mash, which is good, she is just about 14 weeks old.
Thanks everyone!
My fingers are crossed and looks like another sleepless night.

 

[vangela]

You are doing the best you can and don't give up on her yet!

 

[AHappychick]

Quote:
yes I agree

eta at that age it also could be markes I have seen it throw some similar symptoms. Still I would continue with the vitamins.

 

[Judy]

Quote:
There is indeed a danger of getting the liquid in her airway, if you squirt it into her mouth. Safest is to drop it onto the side of her beak and let her get it into her mouth. Of course, adding liquid to any solid food she'll eat will also up her fluid intake.

I really feel that these feeds have the minimum an animal needs, and not optimum.
The amounts needed was researched for commercial growers, not people who have small pet flocks or people who want to let a chicken live out its normal life span in good health. Evidently, also, chickens with neurological problems seem to need a higher dose of vitamins.

 

[ruth]

Quote:
When I was treating Ruth, one of my first chickens and one who developed wry/twisted neck, I had to hold her head straight so she could eat and drink. I've since had a chick here and there to develop it. Just hold her with her neck and head extended straight and you'll probably be amazed at how well she will eat and drink because she's hungry/thirsty. I used to give Ruth little neck massages. I've also made neck braces for little chicks - out of a piece of toilet paper, folded to about an inch wide, wrap around neck and secure with tape. It will keep their neck straight. They won't like it at first and will run backwards and flip over and act like it's killing them but they will eventually get used to it and it will help keep the neck muscles from twisting.

As far as the vitamin deficiency - I personally don't believe the commercial feed has everything they need to develop - maybe 90% of them can live on it alone - but if you watch chickens in a natural setting, meaning free ranging without fences like they do on our farm - the eat everything - greens, bugs, dirt - you name it. I just don't believe they were meant to live in a caged environment being fed only commercial feed. Granted it will work for a majority of them but not all. They will also develop other issues that free range birds don't get - like feather picking and cannibalism - again, due to deficiencies in feed (in my humble opinion).

Good luck with her, don't give up just yet.

Monique

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Some soils have plentiful selenium and crops grown on it have sufficient levels. Other soils have little, and the crops produced there reflect that lack. Selenium is needed for the body to process vitamin E. Vitamin E seems to be needed more by some breeds than by others, but there are very definitely individual needs that may be higher regardless of the breed. It could be that the particular bird is for some reason not as capable of processing specific nutrients.

When I need to give fluids or feed to a bird who will not eat on its own, I use a 1cc syringe that I can push way down its throat.

 

[zowieyellowflame]

Well, I worked a 13 hr shift today (with commute).
This morning (4:45 am) I woke to find her still twisted, but less severe jerking motions. I fed her some egg, 25 of the selenium (half a tablet) and 300 of the vitamin E, along with egg. She drank water on her own and the jerking almost completely subsided before I had to leave for work at 8 am. She could stand tall and turn to the right. I think too, during the day she was ok because she even escaped her enclosure and pooped all over the room in the basement. (wonder though if she got herself in a position where she could not get back to food and water....) My husband would have put her back in when he got home at 6 and now at 9, she is in the enclosure, jerking and twisting like mad, as bad as last night again. I gave her half tablet of selenium and 300 of the e though not likely it all made it down. We dropped some pieces, but she ate eagerly.
So, for any sort of recovery, do you find they get better in waves or am to I assume this is a bigger problem then vitamins? How long is too long? Should I INCREASE THE DOSE?, I am off tomorrow so I can pamper all day. Someone suggested marek's..... anybody else feel that way? That freaks me out a bit.
Should I supplement the other 15 girls and 9 boys with selenium and E? How would a person do that? This girl is from an outside egg that I hatched with an incubator. Could this be hereditary? Or poor genetics?
I like the suggestion of holding my little wry neck so she can eat, but there is no way.... it is like a seizure. Except downward swinging of head and neck. I recommend anyone to search it on you tube.... the video i saw of a silkie is exactly this.
I have held her in my arms and it does not stop the movement but seems to soften the motion a bit. I don't really like to hold her much, I am getting a bit too attached!
By the way, her name is "Rye". Get it?

 

[CityChook]

How are you doing?

I don't have any suggestions for her treatment -- I just wanted to send you a hug. You're a good chicken mama. I'm sorry that this is happening to you.

 

[sammi]

zowie...here is a link to treatment for wry neck, (which includes prednisone for inflammation)..and includes a link to a video of a silkie chick with wry neck/crook neck..
hope the video links still works..might be the same one you mentioned.

http://fowlfacts.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=2008&action=display&thread=429

could she have been badly pecked or banged her head?
any chance she got into something toxic?

poor little girl..she must be freaked out.
hope you'll hang in with her a little longer..and make sure she eats and drinks..it's important that she stays hydrated..
could be she's so disoriented and just wants to eat, but can't manage the water with her spasming..give water by drops on beak if you can..
hope she gets ok..fingers crossed.

 

[zowieyellowflame]

Things are looking up this morning. I gave her some more vit E and she is not crooked at all, not having any attacks. She is drinking (lots) and eating. I can tell when she is feeling better because she no longer wants to be petted.

The only symptom she is having is that yawn, wide mouth that chickens do. She is doing is frequently.
Sammi I looked at the link and was able to open the you tube video, but my chicken is not really acting like that. She is more like this video

the blue silky.
Also, the instructions are for 1, 2 and 3 weeks and beyond. How long does treatment take? Would I be finished treating after 3 weeks or will she always need this stuff hand fed to her?

She could have a head injury. I found her right at bedtime when everyone goes into the coop and compete for roosts and food. I went out to close them up for the night and she was spasming all over the place and the other chickens were attacking her. It was good timing really, they didnt have time to hurt her.
How do chickens get botulism poisioning?