Wry Neck??

[raepryjda]

I have taken in an orphan hen and I am completely new to this chicken raising thing! I need to know if this is wry neck or something more severe. I have been giving her Vitamin E and Selenium and she is slightly improving, but not much. For the most part she is laying on her left side with her head tucked upside down into her chest. She is very weak and normally will only sit up if I move her to that position. She is able to flap both of her wings and mover her legs but is very weak on them. She does have a little diarrhea but is eating and drinking well when I feed her. I feel terrible for this poor girl and I am trying everything to make her comfortable and healthy, but I just do not know what is wrong with her. I can not find a vet that will come to my home and see her and the closest one to me that will see chickens is over an hour away. I am afraid the stress driving there would be worse for her. Please help me!

 

[Eggcessive]

Welcome to BYC. How old is the chickens? Are you using other vitamins and electrolytes in her water as well as the vitamin E and selenium? Wry neck is only a symptom of many different conditions that can affect the brain, such as dehydration, Mareks disease, avian leukosis, vitamin E deficiency, a head injury, and other diseases during end stages. For now I Would make sure that she gets plenty of fluids with vitamins and electrolytes, some chopped egg, tuna, a bit of plain yogurt for probiotics, and a balanced chicken feed. Wry neck symptoms can persist for days or weeks, so helping her get enough to drink and then eat, along with the vitamins and electrolytes may help. Let us know how she is getting along.

 

[raepryjda]

Thank you! She is approximately 3 years old. She is getting electrolytes and as balanced of a diet I can give to her. She is not eating on her own, I am having to bring the food to her beak and she pecks at it. As for water, she is drinking from a dropper. I drop some in front of her beak and she will catch what she can. I do not want to drown her, so this was my next best choice. She will eat bread moistened with electrolytes with a little of her feed on top, this is how I have been giving her the vitamins. This morning she ate some avocado flesh and really enjoyed it. I will get her some yogurt for the next feeding, she is sound asleep for now. My worry is that she has been in the same position since I posted this yesterday. Every time I go to fix her she eventually comes right back to on her left side with her head tilted upside down tucked into her chest. Thank you for responding and I will keep giving updates.

 

[Eggcessive]

Poultry NutriDrench is good for wry neck, containing all important vitamins, electrolytes, amino acids, and the Vitamin E and selenium. Feeding her wet feed, or even learning to tube feed her can help. Here are some good links to read about wry neck:
http://www.browneggblueegg.com/Article/Crookneck/Crookneck.html
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/97121/lets-talk-wry-neck-crook-neck

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/805728/go-team-tube-feeding

 

[raepryjda]

I apologize for not updating sooner, but my hen has made a full recovery and is out in the coop with the rest of her flock. She had some seriously rough nights but is completely better. She has some feathers to regrow in on her one side, from sliding around the pen, but other than that she was welcomed back into the coop with no problems. Thank you for all the advice!

 

[Eggcessive]

I apologize for not updating sooner, but my hen has made a full recovery and is out in the coop with the rest of her flock. She had some seriously rough nights but is completely better. She has some feathers to regrow in on her one side, from sliding around the pen, but other than that she was welcomed back into the coop with no problems. Thank you for all the advice! 

Very good news to hear!

 

[beritbeth]

I have a question, but I am glad to hear that your hen is doing better! This is the most recent post I can find about wry neck. I have a 10 week old lavender Orpington chick with what I think is wry neck. I'm new so I am not completely sure, but my vet cousin (who doesn't generally deal with poultry) guessed that was what it is from pictures. My chicks head is twisted to the right, he can eat and drink well enough, but it hasn't gotten better nor worse in a week. All I have done for him was give him electrolytes in his water. Should I take him to the vet? Should I be giving him selenium and vitamin E? If so how much and how? Sorry to intrude on your post, I hope you have some solutions for me! Thank you :/

 

[Eggcessive]

Beribeth, wry neck or torticolis is usually treated with vitamin E and selenium. There should be E in your electrolytes, but selenium can be found in eggs, tuna, and chopped nuts. Giving a little egg daily will be enough. Products such as Poultry Nutri-drench and Poultry Cell contain both E and selenium plus other vitamins, minerals, and amino acids. Dosage of those is 1 ml for every 3 pounds of weight. You may want to click on the links in post # 4.

 

[raepryjda]

Questions are welcome! My Bella is still doing amazing. She has completely gained all of her strength and though she is still free loading with no egg production!!, we love her and glad she pulled through. I am no vet, but the one I spoke too is very, very old fashioned. He believes you treat animals with common sense and less Google! I went to Walgreens and luckily they had buy one get one free on vitamins and bought Vitamin E capsules and Selenium tabs. I took a half piece of bread, soaked with electrolyte water, poked a whole in the Vitamin E capsule and squeezed 2 caps on the bread and sprinkled 2crushed selenium tabs over the vitamin E. Bella was not able to eat by herself, so I had to hold the bread over her beak while she pecked at it. This way I knew for sure she was getting all of it and I did this 2 times a day. Within a few days she was doing much better, but did have spells where she was worse than she was before. After having a very bad night where I almost gave up on her and she refused to eat or drink anything, I called my vet again and he told me to force feed her some avocado (just the flesh, the skin is dangerous). I did that for two eating sessions along with the Vitamin E and Selenium regimen and she was fully recovered by the third feeding. I did give her electrolytes every 2-4 hours depending on my schedule. It was very, very time consuming and at times I cried with her as she struggled to breathe, but it was so worth it in the end. I have noticed at times, her neck looks a little crooked, so I just give her another piece of bread with the same vitamin regimen above and within a few hours she is fine again. I do know the amount of vitamins she got every day can cause death if given over a long period of time. It only took about a week, to recover and she slowly gave less and less each time til she was sent out to the coop. And now I just treat her when I see symptoms. We do not know if she will ever produce eggs again, but she is our miracle chicken so we will keep her around!