Wrys neck from injury

[Li.]

i am wondering if anyone has had this happen before and how long did it take for treatment to be successful? It started 1&1/2 days after my chicken hen was attacked by a weasel. The description from this site led me to this diagnosis. Soooo...started the vitamins today. She’s pretty stocky (10-12 lbs), but I now know hydration and vits are first. Food thoughts are welcome as I’m doing by syringe. Or am I only staving off the inevitable? So, yeah, any experience and success stories out there? I don’t want her to suffer....sometimes there’s no fixing things. Eyes are clear, pupils are equal and reactive, she’s separated (no one bothered her but when she couldn’t ambulate well). Thank you in advance.

 

[Eggcessive]

Are you using vitamin E, thiamine, and selenium? I would give 400 IU of E, along with a poultry vitamin that contains B1(thiamine) and give a little chopped egg or tuna for selenium. Try wetting some of her feed in a small bowl with a lot of water. Mix in some cooked egg. You can hold this to her beak, or wrap her in a towel like a burrito and try dipping her beak to feed her. The water in the feed can get fluids into her. Are you certain she was attacked by a weasel? Wry neck can be a result of head injuries, vitamin deficiency, and is seen in some diseases such as Mareks and others.

 

[Li.]

Are you using vitamin E, thiamine, and selenium? I would give 400 IU of E, along with a poultry vitamin that contains B1(thiamine) and give a little chopped egg or tuna for selenium. Try wetting some of her feed in a small bowl with a lot of water. Mix in some cooked egg. You can hold this to her beak, or wrap her in a towel like a burrito and try dipping her beak to feed her. The water in the feed can get fluids into her. Are you certain she was attacked by a weasel? Wry neck can be a result of head injuries, vitamin deficiency, and is seen in some diseases such as Mareks and others.

Are you using vitamin E, thiamine, and selenium? I would give 400 IU of E, along with a poultry vitamin that contains B1(thiamine) and give a little chopped egg or tuna for selenium. Try wetting some of her feed in a small bowl with a lot of water. Mix in some cooked egg. You can hold this to her beak, or wrap her in a towel like a burrito and try dipping her beak to feed her. The water in the feed can get fluids into her. Are you certain she was attacked by a weasel? Wry neck can be a result of head injuries, vitamin deficiency, and is seen in some diseases such as Mareks and others.

The weasel was beaten off her and,well,pop goes the weasel. Rooster Booster for the vits.

 

[Li.]

She survived because the weasel was beaten off her. Then pop goes the weasel. Rooster Booster are the vits. I would still like to continue with syringe feeding to give the neck muscles a rest. Then no risk of aspiration. Massaging seems to be a comfort. Kinda like humans with Wrys. Thank you for the food thoughts. Amounts and times for feeding... any suggestions? I appreciate your response.

 

[Eggcessive]

You may want to get vitamin E 400 IU since the Rooster Booster may not have quite enough. It does have thiamine and selenium though, so continue those. Here is a tube feeding thread, and in post 1, it will give you amounts of how much to feed. You may even want to tube feed her, since it is safer to give that way if she is not able to eat enough, but do what you feel is right.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...ng-guide-pictures-under-construction.1064392/

 

[Li.]

Thank you. This is so helpful. I’m still waiting for some guidance or best guess on successful recovery. Like I said before, I don’t want her to suffer. So mercy kill or recovery....which ever is best for her. She survived the attack. In my book, she is a warrior. That weasel took 3 of my chickens. It was a male. He would have continued killing them.

 

[LoveMyChickenBabies]

Are any bones broke?

 

[Li.]

No. Like I said earlier, this started 1&1/2 days after the attack. Everything seems in order there.

 

[LoveMyChickenBabies]

Can you post a picture of her? It might help us understand sort of what is going on. Does she need a splint? How bad is her wry neck?

 

[Sweetpotatomama]

My four year old Muscovian duck Sweet Potato was attacked by an otter on 9/27 & I took her to the vet thinking she'd have to be euthanized because her wing was shredded and she had no control over her neck/breast area & couldn't stand or walk. The vet checked her over and said it didn't look great but that he recommended at least giving her a night on Kenalog & Baytril to see how she did. (We saved our 8 month old kitten who broke three legs so he knew we'd put in the time to make her better if she could get better.)
At first she had control of the top of her neck but after a few days it started to curl in and the vet and I agreed she'd gotten wry neck from the injury as well.
Fast forward through many sleepless nights, 1ml oral B Vitamin Complex 1xday, 400mg Vitamin E 1xday, 25mg Selenium 1xday,. 0.5ml Metacam 2xday, & 1ml Baytril 2xday (altho I quit the Baytril about 2 days before it was complete because she completely stopped eating for two days and she had already lost too much weight) - she still can't walk at all or stand on her own but her wing is fully functional and she can use the side of the dog kennel she's in to push herself up the side to stand well enough to eat and by herself while I'm there carefully watching her. Her neck has pretty much completely straightened out although she still doesn't have control of her breast/shoulder area which is why she can't stand independently or walk yet. I usually put a towel under her neck at night and she can root around in it and get comfortable. I'm still not 100% convinced she'll get better enough to have a good quality of life so I'm trying to keep in mind I may still have to let her go, but also trying to stay hopeful and upbeat for her since nerve damage especially can take even 2-3 months to show real improvement.
Soooo, all that to say if you're willing to put in the time to nurse your chicken I think from this experience and all my research it's almost miraculous what birds can overcome. The wry neck took about 2 weeks of supplements to see great improvement. Now we're working on the rest of her getting stronger.
Wishing you luck and good thoughts!