Will it ever be wise to add this chick to my flock? Wryneck question.

[sueami]

Hi all,
Once again, I'm immensely grateful that you all contribute to such a valuable collective knowledge resource. Most of the time, owning chickens is simple, routine and enjoyable, but every once in a while, something difficult or unexpected happens, and I'm very grateful to be able to turn to this forum. (My 12yo daughter's first piece of advice is always to post here and ask a question.)
We got three chicks from the feed store at the beginning of December, with an eye to adding them to our flock this spring. They're housed inside (and making a mess, sigh, but I didn't want to wait for fall for eggs). Two and a half weeks ago, the barred rock began acting bizarrely and after reading on these forums, I figured it was wryneck. We separated her, gave her poultry vitamins and after about five days, she began to get significantly better. She spasmed less frequently and was able to pull herself out of it fairly quickly. She wanted to be back with the other girls so we combined them again. I let them out of the stock tank we have them in to stretch their wings yesterday, and saw that the barred rock was still doing wryneck, maybe a bit more frequently than previously, so I'm monitoring it.
But I am also wondering, do I risk my existing flock of five by integrating this bird and the other two with them this spring, especially if she is still spiking wryneck behavior from time to time? It doesn't seem like we have a clear idea of what causes wryneck and I just don't know if I should consider it an infectious disease or not. The other two pullets, a red sex link and a white leghorn, seem fine.
What would others do in this situation, either from a treatment perspective or a flock management one?
Thanks in advance,
Sue

 

[scbatz33]

I don't know about the "infectious" part. My understanding of wry neck is it's a genetic defect....the bird can't properly process nutritional elements and therefore becomes decicient and the wry neck is the result. I have only had one case of it. I got her back to "normal" to where she had no symptoms at all. However, she died unexpectedly about two months later. It is my opinion that a bird who suffers from such a problem, while possible to reduce or even eliminate the symptoms, can never be "cured". Further a bird who has such issues is at risk to pass along the flaw. So although I was glad the pullet came around, even for a little while, she would have never been used in my breeding pens.

That being said, It up to each person to decide what is the best course of action. If it happened to me again, I'd cull the bird. It seems a pointless suffering only to have the same end result.

 

[sueami]

Thank you for that information, that's quite helpful. Ours is a small egg flock, so breeding won't be an issue. Culling, we'll have to think over. With two kids in the household, it's not as simple a choice as it might otherwise be. Perhaps nature will step in and take the decision out of our hands. For now, she's doing fairly well.
THanks again!
Sue