Wry Neck - Confused about treatment

[Debstar1204]

Thank you for all your help.. This morning my girl refused to eat she seems as though she has given up this fight. Considering the length of time and the lack of improvement, I decided to NOT force feed this time I've made her comfortable and ill let her go

 

[Lacrystol]

Thank you for all your help.. This morning my girl refused to eat

she seems as though she has given up this fight. Considering the length of time and the lack of improvement, I decided to NOT force feed this time

I've made her comfortable and ill let her go

SOOO SORRY, She was definitely a fighter and you gave it your best shot. There wasn't a whole lot more you could have done. Thumbs up to you for sticking with her and trying..

 

[Debstar1204]

Hi again, well I feel horrible. My girl is still with us!!! Can you believe that- I was like wow I honestly thought she was going to die while I was at work the other day. She was still alive that night & I DIDN'T fed her thinking it wouldn't be long now well the next night she was still ALIVE so I offers her some fluids and she had so much fight left I cracked open the next jar of baby food.. So 24 hours later she is back to feeding and is still here.....
Tonight I noticed its her neck that seems to be putting her off balance. She obviously doesn't have strong neck muscles at the moment but she is trying to eat her mush like a trooper..... She also keeps pushing herself backwards while feeding, I'm nt sure if its her trying to stand to eat but all she does is fall onto her tail ( I'm holding her though so she can't fall) I have gone back to the vitamin E 500mg daily. Tomorrow ill give her selenium ( very 2 nd day i think for this) plus water with electrolytes... Tonight I wet her crumble and she loved it.. Ill give it another week and if no improvement ill have to consider taking her to be PTS...... She sure is a strong girl & I feel horrible for not feeding her for that time She definitely deserves the chance to improve, with her fight. Won't give up now...

 

[Lacrystol]

WOW SHE IS A FIGHTER, she is trying SOOO hard that is incredible. Poor thing, DANG. Absolutely Amazing, we are on like the 4th week now? Give her Very little of the selenium, not a whole pill just a tab, it's only used to help absorb the Vitamin E..

Have you tried a stronger antibiotic? If you can get some Tylan 50 give her 1/4 twice a day for three days you have to inject it. I can't believe it, I thought for sure she would have pass by now, MAYBE she can fight this thing. Maybe she can win her battle, she surely is trying really hard..

 

[LTygress]

I used to breed rabbits, and they get this same disease, although it MAY be from a different parasite. I didn't study it much beyond remedies in rabbits to know if chickens get the same one. But here is an option. It may be a LONG shot, but it worked for rabbits...

The parasite we had trouble with, affected the brain of rabbits. It would get into their heads and mess up their equilibrium. Even when treated successfully, the rabbit still held his head slightly tilted, although no where NEAR as bad as having the actual disease.


The trick was a very timely shot of Ivermectin. This is sold at Tractor Supply stores WITHOUT a prescription. The brand name is usually Ivomec, and it is often refrigerated in a locked cooler. But again, you do NOT need a prescription to purchase it. You will, however, need a syringe to administer it. The smallest gauge they offer is usually 22 or 25. Go with the higher number of the two, since it will be smaller.

(NOTE: I actually used my mother's insulin needles for this. The gauge is incredibly small - 29 - and the syringe itself is small enough to deal with the tiny amount they will need.)

And it IS possible to give a chicken an injection. I did that once with tetracycline for an eye infection one of my hens got. Just find some skin way down under those feathers, pull a "pinch" of it away from the underlying muscle and fat, and inject the medication in the little triangular gap right below the part you have pinched.

For a medication like this, you will need 1/10th of a cc, or 1/10th of a ML. If you're using a diabetic syringe, it would be consider "10 UNITS". If it is in advanced stages, you can safely give them twice as much, BUT NO MORE.


If that works, let me know. But at this point, it probably can't hurt anymore.

 

[Debstar1204]

Thank you- yes I breed rabbits too. So I kinda know how to treat it & I have all the right stuff to treat.. I just don't know why it hasn't worked with this hen
She is eating like a trooper now, and I bought some vitamin B complex today. It's the only vitamin I haven't tried.. I'm just worried her neck will stay the same. When she eats she still flicks it around making herself push backwards. Is it possible that she herself has it twisted the wrong way? Or do they naturally know which way to untwist?? It's more to the side now and although it CAN go forward he doesn't like it
Also is it possible to OVER FEED her at this point? Her crop is sooo big tonight lol, or will her body start to regain weight?
I have ivermectin pour on, not the injectable. Are they different with what they do? I have treated her with it in her neck and I've also used baycox... Plus vitamin e and selenium plus a multi vitamin concentrate for sick animals and now vitamin B... I just keep thinking if her neck was ok she would be on her way to recovery... It's definitely her neck stopping her from balancing as she pushes it backwards which pushes her crop out and up making her topple backwards. She doesn't fall over though and is able to sit up right ok ( head under right wing though)
Any other suggestions would be appreciated. How long til she actually gains some weight???
And yes this will be week 4. She is a fighter and has started to cluck a little again too.

 

[LTygress]

Ivermectin injectable is definitely different. It treats mostly external parasites, and some intestinal worms, since they often get exposed through the anus. But the injectible goes into the blood stream and can hit all parts of the body. If this is the same parasite that causes wry-neck in rabbits, the ONLY way to get to it is by injecting it. It has to go through the blood stream to get to the brain where the parasite affects their equilibrium.

 

[dawg53]

Ivermectin injectable is definitely different. It treats mostly external parasites, and some intestinal worms, since they often get exposed through the anus. But the injectible goes into the blood stream and can hit all parts of the body. If this is the same parasite that causes wry-neck in rabbits, the ONLY way to get to it is by injecting it. It has to go through the blood stream to get to the brain where the parasite affects their equilibrium.

Ivomec injectable might work in rabbits and other animals/livestock as a wormer, but not in chickens.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1439-0450.1989.tb00635.x/abstract

 

[Lacrystol]

Ivomec injectable might work in rabbits and other animals/livestock as a wormer, but not in chickens.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1439-0450.1989.tb00635.x/abstract

I agree

 

[Lacrystol]

I wouldn't worry about her over eating, you want her to eat as much as she can, she's lost sooo much weight and she's been sick for soooo long, It's probably the only way she's going to get better. The only thing I would be concerned about her eating so much is to make sure that crop empties each morning. If it's still full in the morning decrease her feedings. Because your just going to get your self into another problem with her. If she wants to eat all day long let her. Let her get her strength back and its good to here she has a good appetite. Perhaps once she starts to gain some weight, she'll get her strength back and start standing like normal and maybe her neck will correct herself with a slight curb to it.

She is an AMAZING chicken!!! And I applaud to you for TRYING soo hard and Keeping her going... It's a lot of work caring for a sick chicken and 4 weeks is a long time and lots of hours.