Wry neck in my guinea’s?!

[Kcerquozzi]

Hi everyone! I’m still a fairly new chicken-mom. Every time I feel like I’m getting the hang of things and my chicks are all happy and healthy, something else happens!

Amongst my half-a-dozen chickens, I also have 4 guinea fowls, I’d say about 3 months old. We have recently transitioned them from the XXL dog crate in our garage to the outside world. Everything was going great, until about an hour ago.

We went outside to round up the birds and noticed that 2 of our guinea’s were acting REALLY strange. Now these birds are FAST, and they do not like to be captured no matter how much human interaction they get. So the fact that we were able to get close enough to them and pick them up was suspicion enough that something was off, then we noticed that they are unable to hold their heads up on their own. One of them seems to only be able to keep its head tilted back basically looking towards the sky, while the other is basically stuck face down. Both also seem to twitch their heads in every which direction. Now when we pick them up, they still flail their bodies around but their necks are just limp. It’s a pitiful sight to see and I feel awful, like I did something wrong.

From the research I’ve done, it sounds and looks like wry neck. Does anyone else have any more experience or advice with this?

 

[LulaBell]

I am a first time guinea owner and bought 6 from RK at the end of March - beginning of April. One ended up with wry neck. She would hold her head twisted and have some sort of seizures. It got bad and the rest of the flock would not accept her. (she was in with chicks the same age) I did some research and was told it was a vitamin deficiency to give lots of vitamin e. I also bought poultry cell and fed to her via syringe every day. It was touch and go for a while but she pulled through. Her neck is still crooked but she is healthy and the flock has taken to her. Overall I am glad I did not cull her. I was also told to give poly vi sol, without iron. I bought it but never did give it to her. Good luck!

 

[Eggcessive]

If you suspect wry neck (star gazing, torticolis,) I would start vitamins that include thiamine (B1) and give 400 IU of vitamin E daily for a couple of weeks to see if it helps. A little bit of cooked egg also will give them selenium to help with vitamin E uptake, and only a little selenium is nedded. Wry neck can be from heredity, a head injury, a vitamin deficiency, and sometimes seen in serious diseases that affect the brain. Make sure they can eat and drink or they will need to be fed a wet mash of chicken feed, water, and egg several times a day.

 

[Kcerquozzi]

I am a first time guinea owner and bought 6 from RK at the end of March - beginning of April. One ended up with wry neck. She would hold her head twisted and have some sort of seizures. It got bad and the rest of the flock would not accept her. (she was in with chicks the same age) I did some research and was told it was a vitamin deficiency to give lots of vitamin e. I also bought poultry cell and fed to her via syringe every day. It was touch and go for a while but she pulled through. Her neck is still crooked but she is healthy and the flock has taken to her. Overall I am glad I did not cull her. I was also told to give poly vi sol, without iron. I bought it but never did give it to her. Good luck!

Glad to hear your girl pulled through! The research I’ve done suggested pretty much the same thing- vitamin deficiency. I checked on them this morning and there was no change. So I tried to make them as comfortable as I could and left for work. When I got home, I noticed that I had 3 active guinea’s instead of 2! The one who’s head was tilted back seems to be acting fine for the most part. She is eating, drinking and walking around although I do still see her have a neck twitch here and there. So I am keeping the both of them separated from the group to get some extra attention until I feel comfortable letting them back out.
I picked up some 400IU gel vitamin e capsules (couldn’t seem to find any selenium?) Using a syringe I took the gel out of the vitamin e cap and mixed it with some water. I used the syringe to put the mixture into my guinea’s mouth, and maybe I’m just being too optimistic but it seems like she perked up almost immediately.
She began straightening herself up to stand tall. I was able to help her drink some water and eat a little bit of food. She’s moving around more (backwards) and is able to hold her head up for short periods of time, however after a little bit she still ends up face down
I’m going to continue this daily and see how things go. I’m also going to try and see where I can find selenium.
Fingers crossed that I can help her get better!
Thanks for your input!

 

[Kcerquozzi]

If you suspect wry neck (star gazing, torticolis,) I would start vitamins that include thiamine (B1) and give 400 IU of vitamin E daily for a couple of weeks to see if it helps. A little bit of cooked egg also will give them selenium to help with vitamin E uptake, and only a little selenium is nedded. Wry neck can be from heredity, a head injury, a vitamin deficiency, and sometimes seen in serious diseases that affect the brain. Make sure they can eat and drink or they will need to be fed a wet mash of chicken feed, water, and egg several times a day.

Thank you for the suggestions and info! Should I give them some egg raw or would it be better to cook it?
When I came home this evening I noticed that 1 of them seems to be much better. She is eating, drinking and walking around, however I do still see her have some neck twitches, almost like her head is just too heavy for her to hold.
However, the other one didn’t have such luck. She was still face down and didn’t seem to have much strength at all, although she had moved herself to a different area.
So I have the 2 of them separated from the rest of the group so they can get some extra TLC.
I did pick up some vitamin e gel capsules that I mixed with water and fed to them via syringe. (Couldn’t seem to find any selenium?) But the vit-e honestly seemed to have a positive effect almost immediately. She began straightening herself to stand up tall and moving her head around. I was able to help her drink some water and eat a little bit of food. She does seem to be a little more lively, moving around and lifting her head more frequently, however after a little bit she still ends up face down, so I’m letting her rest for the evening.
I’m going to continue this regimen daily and hope for the best.

 

[R2elk]

Should I give them some egg raw or would it be better to cook it?

Cooked.

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/protein-in-egg

"Does Cooking Affect the Quality of the Protein?

The high-quality protein abundant in eggs contains all nine essential amino acids in the right ratios.

However, how much of that protein the body can actually use seems to depend on how they are prepared.

Eating eggs raw seems to provide the least amount of protein. One study looked at how much protein was absorbed from cooked versus raw eggs. It found that participants absorbed 90% of the protein from cooked eggs, compared to only 50% of the protein from raw eggs (4Trusted Source).

Another study provided healthy individuals with a meal that contained either cooked or raw egg protein. It found that 94% of the cooked egg protein was absorbed, compared to only 74% of the raw egg protein (5Trusted Source).

This means that cooking eggs helps the protein become more digestible and more accessible to the body."

 

[LulaBell]

I was out with my flock last night giving them some scratch. I couldn’t help but think how well my little guinea is doing after her rocky start in life. It’s thanks to all the support I get from this amazing group of people! Thank you!

A couple pictures of my girl, she is stunted and still has a crooked neck but she holds her own!