What to do for a chick with wry neck? Help!

[Amelise]

I just got my 10 Ameraucana chicks from the post office this morning, they were hatched and shipped on Tuesday night and arrived at the post office at 4:30AM today.

A family member picked them up about an hour ago and set them up in the brooder and showed them all where the water is. We are all busy at work or school and the family member at home has to work from home.

One chick definitely has wry neck, it keeps looking up and cannot stand.

What should we do for a chick with wry neck? How often do they require attention? With the right care, when can we expect this chick to heal? Thanks so much for your help.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Photos?
Work on hydrating the chick, then see if she will eat a bit of wet soupy feed.
I'd get some Vitamin E and B-Complex.
Start the chick on 400IU E and 1/4 B-Complex daily.

If you need to, get a tiny amount of warm water, squeeze the oil out of the Vitamin E geltab and dissolve the B-Complex in the water and syringe drops into her throughout the day.

Hopefully she'll come around with care, hydration and getting her to eat. Sometimes chicks suffer trauma or stress during shipping. All you can do is give her care and see how it goes.

 

[Amelise]

I will definitely do that. Should I separate her from the others?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Are the others trampling or running over her? If so, yes, separate her.

If she's able to move about a little and the others are not causing her grief, then I'd leave her but monitor closely. Separation is stressful, but it's best to have a plan/place to separate her if needed.

 

[Amelise]

Ok, thanks so much! There's plenty of space so she's not being trampled, and it seems like the others are leaving her be so far. I'll update if there are any other issues. Here's a picture of her. Thankfully all the others seem to be ok.

 

[Eggcessive]

Very good advice from Wyorp Rock. Wry neck symptoms in baby chicks. can be from a vitamin E or B 1 thiamine deficiency, or head injury, so using both can help.

 

[Amelise]

Very good advice from Wyorp Rock. Wry neck symptoms in baby chicks. can be from a vitamin E or B 1 thiamine deficiency, or head injury, so using both can help.

Hm. I’m thinking maybe I should contact DeerRunFarm and let them know I got a wry chick, seeing as such a problem could possibly be caused by a deficiency in the adult chickens?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Since she arrived like this, then shipping stress/injury is likely the most reasonable conclusion as the cause of the symptom, but contacting the breeder is always a good idea.

 

[Amelise]

Photos?
Work on hydrating the chick, then see if she will eat a bit of wet soupy feed.
I'd get some Vitamin E and B-Complex.
Start the chick on 400IU E and 1/4 B-Complex daily.

If you need to, get a tiny amount of warm water, squeeze the oil out of the Vitamin E geltab and dissolve the B-Complex in the water and syringe drops into her throughout the day.

Hopefully she'll come around with care, hydration and getting her to eat. Sometimes chicks suffer trauma or stress during shipping. All you can do is give her care and see how it goes.



View attachment 3289991View attachment 3289992

Is selenium necessary, as well? Or are B1 and selenium the same thing?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Is selenium necessary, as well? Or are B1 and selenium the same thing?

B1 is Thiamine.
Selenium is Selenium.

Selenium can help with the uptake of E. The feed should have a small amount already.
A bit of egg can be given as well if you can get it down her.
I would not suggest giving her Selenium directly, she's tiny and the dose for an adult is tiny, so best to just get it into her with food.