Well at least if Leo is being a jerk it sounds like he's feeling better!
I thought my little wry neck guy was a girl for 3 weeks and had named him Tinkerbell
because he was so tiny! His name now is Happy Gilmore.
Happy's mom had 7 eggs and hatched 5 successfully. She left the last 2 eggs 2 days after the rest hatched. I quickly candled them and saw movement so I moved them to my incubator. It took Happy and his brother 2 more days to finally get all the way out of their shells. Happy's brother had a curled foot and Happy hatched out screaming. He couldn't stand up at all because his head was flipped over on his back. The next day I started him on polyvisol, selenium and vitamin E. I had to feed him with a syring-he couldn't eat or drink. His brother went out to his mom no problem but Happy couldn't in his condition. I tried having him visit his mom in hopes he would get better fast and could rejoin her but she was terrified of him and wanted nothing to do with him lol. After 2 weeks Happy showed really no improvement. His head was now curling right around and down by his feet. Still couldn't stand. I then read about vitamin B and added that to his food.
Here's Happy his first day standing for more than a few seconds. You can see his head still tilted back.
About 3 1/2 weeks old. He was way smaller than his hatch mates. He could eat a bit now but couldn't drink. Ever time he tilted his head back it would flop to the side and he appeared to almost drown. I had to syring water and he would peck at cucumber for a drink. He would go all day looking pretty normal until about 3pm then his head flipped down between his feet.
4 1/2 weeks...still tiny. Still can't drink on his own. I started "physio" made him practice drinking while I held him and tried to support his head at the right angle. He still was having like convulsions if another chicken came near him or something startled him. He would twist his neck and fall over...flap wings like crazy.
About 5 1/2 weeks...all of his hatch mates went to their new home this day. They were fully feathered and looked a month older than him. He still held his head odd and water still poured out of his beak when he drank. He had several relapses that lasted a few days. He would walk around with his comb touching the floor.
Nice straight neck now! Starting weaning off vitamins and he relapsed again. Happy had now lived in the house his entire life. He was scared of chickens. He slept cuddled up to my chocolate lab on his dog bed. He is still Happy's best friend. He follows him around the yard.
After trying to wean Happy off his vitamins several times and trying to teach him to be a chicken who lives outside I decided to give him meds every 3rd day...that seemed to work. I managed to eventually go to once a week. He hasn't had a full relapse in over 6 months but he has had many times that his head tilts sideways or back and he gets very uncoordinated. He's experiencing his first adult molt right now and it has brought his symptoms back again. He gets scrambled egg everyday and is spending more time in the house...it keeps him calmer.
Here's what he looks like now. He is spoiled rotten! I don't think he will ever be completely normal. But he eats, drinks, free ranges, crows, grass baths and chases girls around so that's good enough for me.
Like I said before I don't have one picture of Happy with his head contorted. I just never wanted to remember that. He's my special needs guy and we are both ok with that. I don't know what caused Happy's problem but he will never father chicks because I'd be afraid of him passing it on.
I thought my little wry neck guy was a girl for 3 weeks and had named him Tinkerbell
because he was so tiny! His name now is Happy Gilmore.
Happy's mom had 7 eggs and hatched 5 successfully. She left the last 2 eggs 2 days after the rest hatched. I quickly candled them and saw movement so I moved them to my incubator. It took Happy and his brother 2 more days to finally get all the way out of their shells. Happy's brother had a curled foot and Happy hatched out screaming. He couldn't stand up at all because his head was flipped over on his back. The next day I started him on polyvisol, selenium and vitamin E. I had to feed him with a syring-he couldn't eat or drink. His brother went out to his mom no problem but Happy couldn't in his condition. I tried having him visit his mom in hopes he would get better fast and could rejoin her but she was terrified of him and wanted nothing to do with him lol. After 2 weeks Happy showed really no improvement. His head was now curling right around and down by his feet. Still couldn't stand. I then read about vitamin B and added that to his food.
Here's Happy his first day standing for more than a few seconds. You can see his head still tilted back.
About 3 1/2 weeks old. He was way smaller than his hatch mates. He could eat a bit now but couldn't drink. Ever time he tilted his head back it would flop to the side and he appeared to almost drown. I had to syring water and he would peck at cucumber for a drink. He would go all day looking pretty normal until about 3pm then his head flipped down between his feet.
4 1/2 weeks...still tiny. Still can't drink on his own. I started "physio" made him practice drinking while I held him and tried to support his head at the right angle. He still was having like convulsions if another chicken came near him or something startled him. He would twist his neck and fall over...flap wings like crazy.
About 5 1/2 weeks...all of his hatch mates went to their new home this day. They were fully feathered and looked a month older than him. He still held his head odd and water still poured out of his beak when he drank. He had several relapses that lasted a few days. He would walk around with his comb touching the floor.
Nice straight neck now! Starting weaning off vitamins and he relapsed again. Happy had now lived in the house his entire life. He was scared of chickens. He slept cuddled up to my chocolate lab on his dog bed. He is still Happy's best friend. He follows him around the yard.
After trying to wean Happy off his vitamins several times and trying to teach him to be a chicken who lives outside I decided to give him meds every 3rd day...that seemed to work. I managed to eventually go to once a week. He hasn't had a full relapse in over 6 months but he has had many times that his head tilts sideways or back and he gets very uncoordinated. He's experiencing his first adult molt right now and it has brought his symptoms back again. He gets scrambled egg everyday and is spending more time in the house...it keeps him calmer.
Here's what he looks like now. He is spoiled rotten! I don't think he will ever be completely normal. But he eats, drinks, free ranges, crows, grass baths and chases girls around so that's good enough for me.
Like I said before I don't have one picture of Happy with his head contorted. I just never wanted to remember that. He's my special needs guy and we are both ok with that. I don't know what caused Happy's problem but he will never father chicks because I'd be afraid of him passing it on.
