Wry neck?

[Bawkmeow]

I believe my bantam Cochin Roxie has wry neck. She is pretty bad. I noticed a head tilt 3 days ago and it progressed. I separated and started treatment 2 days ago. Vitamin E extra spinach vitamins in water. Her normal grower food (she is roughly 6 months) offer a mix of oats. Sunflower seeds. Nutritional yeast and a little molasses so it’s easier for her to grab. Multiple times a day I can get her to drink the water out of a spoon. But how much water should she be getting? She has gotten to the point of having a hard time standing. She seams at ease when I keep her in a little dish pan with blankets around her. She will have times of crazy neck twists and sometimes like a spasm with wing flapping. Anything I am doing wrong? Anything more I should be doing? Her poop looks normal. She only poops 5-6 times a day but I am sure that’s because she is not eating like normal. Any help is appreciated. Thank you.

 

[Anime2lover]

I believe my bantam Cochin Roxie has wry neck. She is pretty bad. I noticed a head tilt 3 days ago and it progressed. I separated and started treatment 2 days ago. Vitamin E extra spinach vitamins in water. Her normal grower food (she is roughly 6 months) offer a mix of oats. Sunflower seeds. Nutritional yeast and a little molasses so it’s easier for her to grab. Multiple times a day I can get her to drink the water out of a spoon. But how much water should she be getting? She has gotten to the point of having a hard time standing. She seams at ease when I keep her in a little dish pan with blankets around her. She will have times of crazy neck twists and sometimes like a spasm with wing flapping. Anything I am doing wrong? Anything more I should be doing? Her poop looks normal. She only poops 5-6 times a day but I am sure that’s because she is not eating like normal. Any help is appreciated. Thank you.

@Crestcrazy2
@Lacy Duckwing

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

@Wyorp Rock @Eggcessive

 

[Eggcessive]

Sorry about your pullet. She is very pretty. Was she vaccinated for Mareks disease? Does she have any weakness in either leg, or use her wings to help balance?

Could you just give her grower feed mixed with water, and a little scrambled egg, and stop the other things? She doesn’t need oats with a balanced feed, and you can make a mash with her feed and water. I would give her 400 IU of human vitamin E and 1/4 tablet of human vitamin B complex daily, and the scrambled egg can provide the selenium needed to help with E uptake.

Since wry neck (torticolis) is a neurological symptom, it cannbe a sign of head injury, vitamin E or thiamine (B1) deficiency, and is seen in certain diseases such as Mareks and a few others. She might take more fluids if you feed her wet mash in a small bowl several time s a day. Tube or crop feeding is also good, and easily to learn.

I hope this is not is not anything but just wry neck, but time will tell.

 

[Bawkmeow]

Sorry about your pullet. She is very pretty. Was she vaccinated for Mareks disease? Does she have any weakness in either leg, or use her wings to help balance?

Could you just give her grower feed mixed with water, and a little scrambled egg, and stop the other things? She doesn’t need oats with a balanced feed, and you can make a mash with her feed and water. I would give her 400 IU of human vitamin E and 1/4 tablet of human vitamin B complex daily, and the scrambled egg can provide the selenium needed to help with E uptake.

Since wry neck (torticolis) is a neurological symptom, it cannbe a sign of head injury, vitamin E or thiamine (B1) deficiency, and is seen in certain diseases such as Mareks and a few others. She might take more fluids if you feed her wet mash in a small bowl several time s a day. Tube or crop feeding is also good, and easily to learn.

I hope this is not is not anything but just wry neck, but time will tell.

Thank you for the reply. She can use her legs but is unstable and will roll she uses her wings to try to balance. But the more she struggles the more her head twists. I keep her is a dishpan with a blanket rolled and in a u shape around her. Supports her on all sides but her butt. She relaxes and can look around. I made her a little sling and took her outside for a few minutes. She really perked up tried to lick grass it was the most she was upright and active in a couple days.

 

[Eggcessive]

Let us know how she gets along in the next few days. I would give the vitamin E and the Bcomplex for thiamine to see if it helps.

 

[aimz127]

Thank you for the reply. She can use her legs but is unstable and will roll she uses her wings to try to balance. But the more she struggles the more her head twists. I keep her is a dishpan with a blanket rolled and in a u shape around her. Supports her on all sides but her butt. She relaxes and can look around. I made her a little sling and took her outside for a few minutes. She really perked up tried to lick grass it was the most she was upright and active in a couple days.

How did your girl fair? I'm in the same boat with one of my pullets. We're about 3 days into treatment and she has the wing flapping and spasms too

 

[Bawkmeow]

We went 6 weeks. After the spasms (that was during week 1) she was unable to sit up or hold her head up. (it was 5 weeks of this) I had to spoon feed and water her every 3-4 hours. she would sleep for most of the time. I made a little sling for her to prop her up and she could watch me/the cats/tv or i played videos of chickens on my ipad for her. But she was rarely awake for more than a hour or two a day. She would poo and of course be laying on it so it was a constant routine of feedings, waterings, bathings, blowdrying, washing her towels and sling that she had pooped on. I tried multiple vitamin and supliment suggestions but nothing was helping i called the vet a couple times but non of their suggestions made any inprovements either. so after the 5 weeks of 3-5 hours of sleep each night I took her into the vet. She had lost so much weight and was responsive but quality of life was in question, I made the decision to have her put down and not have her continue to go through this. The vet did say if she had to guess that she felt her wry neck was cause more by a brain injury or neuralogical condition that most likely would not of improved. Most other conditions that cause wry neck show some improvements way before the 5 week mark. She said a good 2 weeks should show some improvement. it could still take many weeks for symptoms to be gone, but you should see some improvement. I send you lots of hugs and well wishes for yours going through this. It is so hard to watch them and feel helpless. I did enjoy having her in the house and being able to snuggle her when she did not feel well. If i held her while she slept she seamed not to twist so terribly awkward and slept more at peace. Good luck and please know there were many more that i spoke to that had theirs pull through then had the outcome that mine did.

 

[aimz127]

@Bawkmeow Thank you for the response. I've got mine in my lap as I type this since she's been head down for 2 days and can't seem to drain her crop properly. I tried to use a U-shaped towel, but she buried her head into it making it a moot point. So chicken bird-rito is it. It does seem to calm her and at least is a better sleeping position.

With any luck, her crop will drain and I can keep up the wry neck treatment and see improvement. So many illnesses look the same, it's hard to know what to treat for.

 

[LitchCoChick]

We went 6 weeks. After the spasms (that was during week 1) she was unable to sit up or hold her head up. (it was 5 weeks of this) I had to spoon feed and water her every 3-4 hours. she would sleep for most of the time. I made a little sling for her to prop her up and she could watch me/the cats/tv or i played videos of chickens on my ipad for her. But she was rarely awake for more than a hour or two a day. She would poo and of course be laying on it so it was a constant routine of feedings, waterings, bathings, blowdrying, washing her towels and sling that she had pooped on. I tried multiple vitamin and supliment suggestions but nothing was helping i called the vet a couple times but non of their suggestions made any inprovements either. so after the 5 weeks of 3-5 hours of sleep each night I took her into the vet. She had lost so much weight and was responsive but quality of life was in question, I made the decision to have her put down and not have her continue to go through this. The vet did say if she had to guess that she felt her wry neck was cause more by a brain injury or neuralogical condition that most likely would not of improved. Most other conditions that cause wry neck show some improvements way before the 5 week mark. She said a good 2 weeks should show some improvement. it could still take many weeks for symptoms to be gone, but you should see some improvement. I send you lots of hugs and well wishes for yours going through this. It is so hard to watch them and feel helpless. I did enjoy having her in the house and being able to snuggle her when she did not feel well. If i held her while she slept she seamed not to twist so terribly awkward and slept more at peace. Good luck and please know there were many more that i spoke to that had theirs pull through then had the outcome that mine did.

So sorry for your loss. I went through what sounds like the same as you, over months of treatment with improvement for only a few wks then rapid decline. We released her to the heavens today.