wry neck/traumatic neck injury- Not broken, but severely contorted after caught in door frame gap.

[EllieandOlive]

Hey. So my sweet girl got injured yesterday/today. And it was my fault.

I didn't find out until this afternoon, but last night when I went to check on my birds, and when shutting the coop door, she must have gotten caught and her neck was bent terribly and she was stuck until I opened their coop again today. It's a large coop with heavy framed 2x4 doors. There is like a 4 inch gap between the floor edge and door where there is a framed step up onto the coop floor (it's raised off our dirt barn floor). Anyways, she got stuck in the gap. Never had this happen before but weve had this set up for years. I think it's because she is a young pullet (14 weeks) and she likes to follow me so she was wedged. Anyways, I've had to cull many over the years I've got 120+ birds) for various things. But I really want to save her as she is special.

Here's what she is acting like:
Wiggly, trying to lift her neck to the proper position but it keeps wanting to flip back to the twisted position. Get tired out and then sleeps with it twisted and under her wing. She CAN hold her head up but only for a few seconds before she gets tired and it goes back. I can straighten her neck and she doesn't protest, but without holding it for her she can't keep it long. She can stand up for a bit but when her neck tires it goes back and she flops over. She is eating and drinking because I put a pile of food on the ground by her head and she ate her fill while laying on her side, with gravity helping her neck not curl the wrong way. As for drinking, she can't dip her beak and glug with her neck/throat, but I've given her a a bunch of syringes full of nurti-drench water while holding her neck and head up and she has drank it all. Her crop is nice and full.

I put some vet wrap with a cut down the front of her throat so it doesn't choke or prevent her swallowing. That barely straightened her neck so I followed it with a wrist wrap I had, which seems to be perfect for the job of bracing, and it's stiff but very loose. I can fit a finger up both sides and it isn't squeezed so I know she can breath fine. I currently am just holding her on my chest reclined back with her neck supported but straightened. She is resting but chirpy when I talk to her or shift her.
Any insight, or a better way I can help her?

I know the brace looks unforgiving and like it is gouging her, but it isnt. She just has feathers filling the gaps.

 

[EllieandOlive]

Also, after further palpating, it seems the crux of the twisting is directly where her skull meets the top her her spine. Even with the 'brace' I made, her head is super crooked but her neck is straight. I can straighten it, but it requires a good amount of force. She tolerates it but doesnt like it. Not showing any signs of sharp pain.

 

[EllieandOlive]

Update- I took her out of the neck brace to go to bed tonight. She was standing and eating by herself (head sideways) and tried drinking but when she tried to jerk her neck to swallow it forced her beck to snap back into the backwards and upside down twisted position. So I syringe fed her water w/electrolytes and nutridrench in it. I can't find my tubes. Ordered more but have to wait until sunday.

 

[EllieandOlive]

Here is her eating.
And the one where she is headless is after she tried to drink. She can't really get out of the twisted position by herself I've noticed.

 

[CombNWattles]

Hi, I’m sorry you haven’t gotten any responses; this looks like a hard situation to be in. I hope we can still be of help on here. Sounds like you were doing a good job keeping her fed and watered.
I have no experience with neck injuries, so I’ll tag some more knowledgeable people:
@Eggcessive @Wyorp Rock @azygous @orelsi

*EDIT* I do have experience with an injury from getting stuck/trapped; it was a leg problem instead of neck, but the hen made a full, if slow, recovery. Wishing you luck.

Spoiler: The story of Lacy’s leg injury

It’s amazing how much an injured bird can be energized by being outside. Two years ago, my Wyandotte, Lacy, got stuck between a board and the coop wall. I found her with one leg out in front and the other behind. I put her in a crate in the coop because she could barely move. That was the beginning of February; she sat in the crate for nearly two months, with no decline or improvement.

Her leg was stretched way up by her head, it seemed dislocated or broken.
she stayed like that til around Easter, when I started letting her drag herself around outside. By mid April she was walking again, and she’s been fine since.

 

[azygous]

She's likely injured the nerve connections in the neck. These need to repair themselves, and she will probably be okay. But it may take time. Meanwhile, she will have a lot of trouble eating and require you to help her to eat and drink. You will need to keep on being resourceful as you've been.

Vitamin E and B-complex repair injured nerve connections, so treat her with those every day. Give the E with egg or a sliver of selenium. Selenium is required to absorb vitamin E but too much is toxic, so just a sliver off a selenium tab should be given.

 

[GirlsMommy18]

Also, after further palpating, it seems the crux of the twisting is directly where her skull meets the top her her spine. Even with the 'brace' I made, her head is super crooked but her neck is straight. I can straighten it, but it requires a good amount of force. She tolerates it but doesnt like it. Not showing any signs of sharp pain.

How did this resolve? Have a hen with the same symptoms after getting her head caught. Right at the base of her skull too.