What causes a twisted neck, and poor appetite?

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Hi, we have a hen that is about 1 year old that suddenly started to twist her neck, appears dizzy, has very little appetite. We first noticed a slight tilt to her neck and now after about 2 days- during which we separated her from her flock- it has gotten alot worse. She sure is a nice hen and we would hate to lose her. Can anyone give me direction?

 

[SpottedCrow]

Could she have gotten into anything poisonous?
Or could her food have gotten mouldy?

 

[robin416]

Knowing the breed also helps. But SC has a very good point, poisoning can cause those types of symptoms.

Give us some more info: is she eating, drinking? What do her droppings look like? Anything and everything you can think of.

 

[[email protected]]

I was looking around and I think that she may have eaten something but am not sure what. We live way out in the country and they free range in the yard and surronding fields. We also feed them some organic grains. Could they be finding something dead or could it be the moldy grain? None of the other chickens are sick and we have her separated from the flock. I believe that the humaine thing to do is to finish her off

but how to prevent this from happening again? Any ideas?

 

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Robin, her dropping are solid but dark green, she is eating some grain and drinking water. Currently she is confined in a cage so she can't wander. Her head is down and she can't seem to raise it. It also tremors and spasms. She closes her eyes alot, but no drainage from the nose or eyes that I can see. Obviously she has lost weight and is quite skinny.

 

[dlhunicorn]

I would stop the grains and get her on chick crumbles (unmedicated) mixed with layer mash (the chick crumbles have a higher protein etc. and the mash will up the calcium which the chick crumbles do not have)... get a good general poultry supplement like AviaCharge 2000 ( I recommend this as it is a complete nutritional / vitamin supplement> you should have this on hand anyway as you will need in several situations but especially if a bird is poorly or in weather extremes)...A vitE/Selenium combination ensuring the selenium does not exceed 50 MICROgrams has been shown to be helpful in these types of situations and I strongly urge you to give this (human>Walmart and Agway have this along with any other drugstore I would imagine)...
You can also do a "molasses flush"
http://www.msstate.edu/dept/poultry/extsoln.htm
"...The following solutions or mixtures are recommended to flush the digestive system of toxic substances, most notably for treating birds exposed to botulism toxins.

Molasses Solution
Add one pint of molasses to 5 gallons of water
Offer the drinking solution free-choice to the affected birds for about four hours. Treat severely affected birds individually if they cannot drink. Return the birds to regular water after the treatment period."

 

[ruth]

I would try feeding her meat protein - dry cat food soaked in water or wet canned cat food. She could be experiencing a nutritional deficiency. Mine also love shredded cheese - good source of calcium and protein. Please give her some time.

 

[[email protected]]

Thank you Ruth. I will try your suggestions.

 

[purplebaby]

this sounds like what happened to my 2 poor chickies, only it happened so much faster to mine! let me know if you figure it out!
i posted yesterday about it on a different thread, i can only figure they ate something really bad.