I came across this thread and was just curious if anyone actually did get a necropsy and what the results showed? I have a 10 month old Silkie/ Ameracauna cross pullet. Yesterday morning I found her lying on top of a pen that had poultry netting on the top and my first thought was that she'd gotten caught in it, as she was flopping, but she didn't seem to be tangled in it when I went to rescue her. I picked her up and she had serious wry neck and also was literally twisted in a knot throughout her her back and wings. I put her in a hospital pen and she quickly relaxed and seemed to improve, but the wry neck did not go away, although she was able to move her head and straighten it so she could eat and drink; then it would return to the wry neck position. I started her on Vitamin E and selennium, and she was able to eat her food without assistance, so I was able to put the supplements in her food, on minced tomato. She did seem to improve, and today she actually laid an egg...but when I went out to feed this evening she was in a severe convulsion and I will be surprised if she makes it through the night. I know that crested breeds are subject to head injuries, and that thought did cross my mind, but last winter I had a chick still with her mother also start having convulsions, and died within hours. Marek's is always a possibility but I haven't seen it manifest this way before. Prior to this past year, I haven't seen the convulsion thing showing up in anyone, so that's why I was curious if anyone had a definite answer with theirs. As I've said before, I'm reluctant to have a necropsy done on any of our birds anymore, although, of course, there's always that option.
I'm glad to hear that she did recover her quality of life, if not entirely her eyesight. Chickens are pretty tough and highly adaptable, though!
