Wry Neck in 8 week Silkie Roo :(:(

[skybleu92]

Hi everyone -
I'm new to chickens, having got our first chicks only a few months ago. I would love to get some advice re. my 8 week old black Silkie rooster ('Puff') who has developed wry neck. We first started noticing symptoms about 6 days ago, though for the first couple of days the symptoms were very mild. Until then he has always seemed very healthy, and has even been crowing for about a week!

For about three days now we have been treating him - first I gave a de-wormer (via his water), and I have been putting poultry multivitamin powder in his water every day. I have also been trying to feed him Vit E and Selenium-rich foods - almonds ground up, scrambled eggs, sunflower seeds. Today I bought some Vit E capsules and have started squirting them in his mouth 2x day, as I read on another site.

He is isolated in the laundry room away from the big hens outside, with our one other silkie, a very docile 8 week hen who is attached at the hip to him.

So far he seems no worse, but no better either. At some points in the day I'll go in and he is sitting fairly upright, with his head just 'cocked' somewhat, and I watch him eat and drink pretty effectively. Other times he seems impossibly twisted up and I can't get him to straighten out.

I've added picture of him as he is just now....head upside down, in a corner, eyes closed.
He looks so pathetic

and I feel so out of my depth. I don't know if I'm helping or not. Is there anything else I should be doing? How long before I would expect to see improvement?
Thank you!!!

 

[Isaac 0]

Wry neck takes a while to treat.Weeks,months.You are doing great just keep it up and im sure he will recover.It will be worth it trust me.Try stretching the neck out and massaging it daily.

 

[MCJam]

Crowing at 8 weeks seems incredibly early for any breed of chicken, much less, a silkie! I usually cannot even sex them until 5 or 6 months, at which time they usually begin crowing. Unfortunately, I have no information about wry neck, but am following this thread to hopefully learn about it should it ever show up in my flock.
Good luck.

 

[Isaac 0]

Wry neck is a Vitamin E and Selenium deficiency.Birds that have this condition will have the following symptoms,Twisted Neck,walking Backwards,Star gazing.Silkies are more prone to this due to there hollow skull.Birds that have the condition should be given Vitamin E and selenium.The dosage is 400iu of vitamin E a day and 25mcg of selenium a day.You can use a liquid tablet and squeeze the juice in there mouth or you can dissolve the tablet in water and drop the water in there beak with a 3cc syringe or a eye dropper.Whatever you do the bird needs to be fed or it will die of starvation due to the twisting of the neck.Wry neck will take a while to treat depending on when you started the treatment.There are various cause of wry neck.The most common causes are a vitamin E and selenium deficiency and a head injury.Other causes may be from a Bacterial infection,Genetics,Mareks.If the vitamin e and selenium treatment doesn't work you should use Predisone which will reduce the inflammation in the head possibly cuing the condition.Its easier to prevent.To prevent wry neck birds should get a High vitamin e and selenium diet just by giving eggs and tuna once and a while will help prevent this terrible condition.Here are some herbs high in Vitamin E and selenium.

Cayenne Powder
Oregano
Basil
Parsley
Cloves
Sage
Thyme


Wry neck links

http://www.fresheggsdaily.com/2014/04/preventing-and-treating-wry-neck-in.html

http://www.raising-happy-chickens.com/wry-neck.html

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/382088/wry-neck-treat-or-euthanize-updated-with-great-results

http://www.browneggblueegg.com/Article/Crookneck/Crookneck.html



Head trauma links

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/22113/head-trauma-off-ballance-chicken-help

http://www.poultrydvm.com/condition/head-injury