wry neck, loss of coordination, odd behaviour

[emeraldgreen]

Lily has what I believe to be wry neck. We found her in the coup looking skyward and flapping around backwards. We took her inside, fed her bread soaked in water and vitamins. After a few days she has improved greatly and is wandering around outside. She has a few episodes, but nothing serious enough for her to loose balance, she just gets a bit stuck looking up for a while. We see improvements everyday.
My question is this...does wry neck effect a chickens overall coordination? Lily can’t seem to feed from the ground, its like she can’t see or focus on what is in front of her, she needs feed in a large bowl heaped up and even then it’s about hit and miss. She’s also acting rather oddly, like she has a fascination with our toes and fingers and we have to push her away or she tries to peck and she is now very friendly as in over friendly. She’s wobbly on her feet and can’t jump or perch.
Could she have a brain injury of some sort? It’s really bizarre! Or is this just part of the wry neck?
We can’t put her back with the other chickens, she had an encourager with one (the bottom of the pecking order)and was severely attacked. A later intro with her long time sister was the same.
I’m not sure what’s going on, she seems otherwise happy and comes to the door every night so she can sleep in her cage inside.
Any ideas?

 

[Eggcessive]

How old is she? Wry neck is just a neurological symptom, and can be a sign of anything that affects the brain. It can happen with vitamin E or thiamine (B1) deficiency, head injury, hereditary predisposition, and it is seen in some diseases such as Mareks, and end stages of respiratory diseases. Wry neck can last days to weeks, and may or may not get better. Sometimes people will mix a small amount of chicken feed with plenty of water, and add a little egg for selenium, a mineral that helps vitamin E, and hold them wrapped in a towel to feed them several times a day. Here is a link about wry neck and a video of feeding:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/lets-talk-wry-neck-crook-neck.97121/

 

[rebrascora]

How old is she and what breed is she?
Marek's disease is one of the commonest diseases of young chickens and can cause all of the symptoms you describe, but there are other causes as Eggcessive has mentioned. The other birds will probably be attacking her because they sense that she is unwell/diseased. Silkies, cream legbars and sebrights seem to be particularly predisposed to Marek's but any chicken can get it and it is very easily contracted due to it being so common and widespread.
The best you can do for Marek's is to keep the bird as happy and stress free as possible and offer a poultry vitamin supplement like Poultry Cell or Nutri Drench to support the immune system and perhaps a probiotic or fermented feed to support the gut. She may benefit from being fed a dollop of wet mash or fermented feed if she is having difficulty locating food. How does she manage with water? If she is having problems with that too, then feeding her a wet mash will reduce her need for water and lower the risk of her becoming dehydrated.

 

[emeraldgreen]

She’s a brown shaver and about 4-5 years old. She has always been fed premium layer pellets, in a large fenced area, basically free range.
Ahhh so the wry neck is just a symptom of neurological disease, that makes sense. She’s definitely not acting like she’s right in the head.
I’m happy with how she’s feeding, and she’s happy, just acting odd lol.
Will look into mareks

 

[emeraldgreen]

I think it is mareks, I noted she has one eye with a tiny pupil that does not dilate. Her feeding behaves would indicate that she can’t see.
What now?

 

[Eggcessive]

Oh no. Most birds with Mareks do not have the eye symptoms, but if yours does, that tends to lead more to that possibility. Can you post a picture of the eye, since it helps others see what it can look like?

I am just wondering, have you added any new birds to your flock in recent weeks or months? Was she vaccinated for Mareks.

 

[emeraldgreen]

What do you think?
We have had Lilly for 3 years, she cane with 5 other birds all 2 years. We lost most of them fairly quickly but have her and her sister left. We introduced 3 more pullets last year, we found one dead a few months ago. No other birds introduced, other 3 seem ok

 

[rebrascora]

I've not got experience with ocular Marek's and it is unusual to see an outbreak in an older bird like this but the combination of symptoms makes it look a likely diagnosis.
Where did you get the pullets from last year and how old were they when you got them?
Marek's has dormant phases where birds that are infected with it can appear perfectly normal...... like the cold sore virus in humans (both are Herpes viruses).... you don't know who has the virus until they have an outbreak and they can go months or even years without getting a cold sore or a chicken showing symptoms. It could be that the pullets came with Marek's. Like cold sores, the virus is only shed when a bird is symptomatic, so the pullet that died might have infected Lily before she died. The virus then has a minimum of 3 weeks dormancy in it's new host before an outbreak can occur, but it can be longer.

If it is Marek's, there is not a lot you can do about it. There is some very scary information out there, but my experience with Marek's in my flock over the past few years, it has not been nearly as bad as much of what you read, so try not to panic. I do lose the odd bird to it but I have some that recover from outbreaks and have good quality of life in between. I have not had any with ocular Marek's so I don't know if those symptoms are reversible at all but I have had severely debilitated birds with paralysis recover enough to return to free ranging with the flock after weeks of being nest bound. As long as they are keen to eat, I support them. Once they lose interest in food it is a downhill slope and I euthanize. The things that I have found beneficial are a good poultry vitamin supplement like Nutri drench to support the immune system (Marek's has an immunosuppressant action) and a probiotic or fermented feed to keep the gut healthy and grass and sunshine and the company of other chickens but in a safe environment where they cannot be picked on. Isolating them tends to lead to depression and then they lose the will to fight it.

I hope we are wrong and she has just developed a visual impairment but please don't be too anxious or despondent if it does turn out to be Marek's. It is not a death sentence for your whole flock as a lot of info suggests and Lily may learn to adapt to her disability and hopefully not deteriorate further

 

[emeraldgreen]

I've not got experience with ocular Marek's and it is unusual to see an outbreak in an older bird like this but the combination of symptoms makes it look a likely diagnosis.
Where did you get the pullets from last year and how old were they when you got them?
Marek's has dormant phases where birds that are infected with it can appear perfectly normal...... like the cold sore virus in humans (both are Herpes viruses).... you don't know who has the virus until they have an outbreak and they can go months or even years without getting a cold sore or a chicken showing symptoms. It could be that the pullets came with Marek's. Like cold sores, the virus is only shed when a bird is symptomatic, so the pullet that died might have infected Lily before she died. The virus then has a minimum of 3 weeks dormancy in it's new host before an outbreak can occur, but it can be longer.

If it is Marek's, there is not a lot you can do about it. There is some very scary information out there, but my experience with Marek's in my flock over the past few years, it has not been nearly as bad as much of what you read, so try not to panic. I do lose the odd bird to it but I have some that recover from outbreaks and have good quality of life in between. I have not had any with ocular Marek's so I don't know if those symptoms are reversible at all but I have had severely debilitated birds with paralysis recover enough to return to free ranging with the flock after weeks of being nest bound. As long as they are keen to eat, I support them. Once they lose interest in food it is a downhill slope and I euthanize. The things that I have found beneficial are a good poultry vitamin supplement like Nutri drench to support the immune system (Marek's has an immunosuppressant action) and a probiotic or fermented feed to keep the gut healthy and grass and sunshine and the company of other chickens but in a safe environment where they cannot be picked on. Isolating them tends to lead to depression and then they lose the will to fight it.

I hope we are wrong and she has just developed a visual impairment but please don't be too anxious or despondent if it does turn out to be Marek's. It is not a death sentence for your whole flock as a lot of info suggests and Lily may learn to adapt to her disability and hopefully not deteriorate further

Thank you so much for the information. I feel much better now
I’ll keep an eye on lily and see how she goes. She doesn’t seem able to drink water (can’t see it?) so have just fed her oats with lots of water and Banana and egg mixed in. I’m not sure if this is going to be enough long term, or if she will improve enough to eat a regular diet.
I’ve nursed lily back to health countless times, she has a tendency to get egg bound, so is a fighter. Fingers crossed she pulls through.
Thanks again