Wry neck in a silkie!

[ArnoldoOfferman]

hey guys!

So one of my silkies came down with wry neck.. bad.

Here’s what we’ve done:

Day 1 - we saw laying down with her neck drooping like she couldn’t walk. We have her some eggs, confined her with her sister in a cage (they’re inseparable), and then had her drink from water with Apple cider vinegar and pedialyte.

We had to order poly vi sol since they only have it with iron here.


Day 2 (today) - she’s upside down, but no wing or leg stiffness like in Marek’s.

We have her vitamin E, some egg yolk, and dipped her beak in water.

She lifts her neck up to eat.

We put her back in the cage and after she settled in she decided to get on her side and back.

Poly vi sol arrives tomorrow.

Going to look for Selenium.

How often should we pick her up to eat?

If she just needs vitamins, can’t I just give her a shot? If so- what cocktail?

 

[ArnoldoOfferman]

Anything? When I put her on the cage or anywhere she starts walking backwards and her neck is turned around multiple times

 

[Eggcessive]

Can she stand and walk? Wry neck can be a symptom of head injury, vitamin deficiency, hereditary tendency, or from certain diseases such as Mareks and others. Selenium is found in egg, tuna, and sunflower seeds, among other foods. A vitamin tonic, such as Poultry Cell or NutriDrench has all vitamins plus minerals including selenium, and the dosage is 1-3 ml daily. Can you describe all of her symptoms, and possibly post a picture? If her neck is limp and she cannot move, then I would look at botulism as a possibility. Many chickens with Mareks will have wry neck and lie on their backs or side, not being able to get up. I would feed and water her 4 times a day. Making a mash out of chicken feed with lots of water and some chopped egg is a good way to feed one with wry neck.I hope she starts to perk up soon.

Okay I saw where you just posted that she is walking backward. That does sound like wry neck, and not botulism. Hopefully she will respond to the vitamins.

 

[ArnoldoOfferman]

Thanks. Yesterday she was able to walk a little bit and today she would just rather walk backwards and she can’t walk for words. She has moments that she can hold her head up and then it’s right back down. I have prednisone… How much should I give her as I know that is something commonly given to them for symptomatic relief

 

[ArnoldoOfferman]

https://instagram.com/p/Bc72hbEgu3S/

 

[ArnoldoOfferman]

Video above. Here’s a pic

 

[Eggcessive]

Poor thing. Most people do not use prednisone without a vet. There is a link on Brown Egg Blue Egg that says they use 2.5 mg of prednisone daily. You can Google “crook neck chicken” where you can scroll down to look for it, and check the dosage. They recommend tapering it down after a couple of weeks.

 

[ArnoldoOfferman]

Poor thing. Most people do not use prednisone without a vet. There is a link on Brown Egg Blue Egg that says they use 2.5 mg of prednisone daily. You can Google “crook neck chicken” where you can scroll down to look for it, and check the dosage. They recommend tapering it down after a couple of weeks.

Thanks!

My vet recommended another vet who has more experience with this. Taking her tomorrow. Hoping maybe a shot will help.

 

[Eggcessive]

Let us know what the vet recommends. Good luck.

 

[CarmenH_NSW]

Hi there.
I have a silkie with wry neck at the moment but she seems to be showing signs of improvement agter just 3 days ... though to start with she was having frequent spasms/walking backwards/stuck in her food bowl etc.

In trying to get vitamins into her as fast as possible I:

- added a chicken booster vitamin to her food (adding it for the other girls too), but unlikely she's benefitted from that yet as she hasn't been able to eat prpperly until today

- soaked shredded sardines in fresh water ... it nit only helps her get water in her but sardines are a good dietary source of vitamin e and selenium

- shredded silverbeet for her to eat ... also a good dietary source of vitamin e and selenium

- added vitamin e oil on the top of about a teaspoon of greek yogurt ... she likes the yogurt and it isn't runny as water so she can swallow sideways

Obviously she is separated from our other chickens so she can be peaceful. We give her company and pet her to help her relax to sleep.

Thought I would share as something in that combination has her up and perky today without all the scary spasms.
Her head is still sideways but nothing like 2 days ago and she is chirping happily.