Young roo laying neck down, beak suddenly twisted

[Shared Acres]

My FIL lives next door and has game hens and roosters. One of his young game roos, about 3-4 months old is suddenly acting weird.

Kind of laying with his neck outstretched. He can lift it up, but it appears to cause him some trouble and is almost heavy to him.

His beak is now twisted/not aligned correctly. If you try to put it back in place it seems to bother him and won't stay that way.

There appears to be no wounds on the bird.

FIL has seperated him and given him food and water. If you put the water in front of him his head just kind of falls in and I think he might drown.

 

[Shared Acres]

I just made him a mix of Vitamins, electrolytes and probiotic slush.

He is basically walking backwards and pushing himself into a corner. Neck stretched forward. Lifting head/neck very little.

Those symptoms would lead to a lot of different ideas, but the sudden twisted beak, is very odd.

 

[roadislandred]

Sounds horrible, so sorry to hear of the pain that roo is having. I can't help you but so many people on this site are so willing to send their experience and help out so good luck.

 

[chseeads]

Sounds like a stroke or something.....is there such a thing in chickens like there would be in humans?

 

[Shared Acres]

I don't know, you're right, it does sound like a stroke and it has been rather hot here.

FIL left him in the AC tonight, hopefully he'll be better tomorrow.

 

[dlhunicorn]

sounds to me like a toxin... mycotoxin (fungus in the field, straw, spoiled feed) or botulism.

See if you can find human geltab comination vitE/selenium tabs (make sure the content of the selenium per tab is not more than 50 MICROgrams) > you can find an affordable one at walmart, kmart and drugstores (the prices can vary widely but just make sure you get the geltab and not the dried powder tab ) p r i c k that open and squeeze out contents in beak (as he seems to be having flacid paralysis , dribble a bit of water along his beak to ensure he can swallow by himself first... if in doubt wait to giv until he can as you dont want ihim aspirating it into lungs) > you will need to assist> cup his neck in your hand so the head is in the proper position to swallow > gently open the beak and squeeze the contents of the tab in beak and gently stroke the neck to assist the swallowing motion.
be patient > if the bird has energy enough to flop its wings around then wrap in a towel... allow the bird the chance to calm down and get used to its neck being cupped in your hand THEN open the beak and give the E/selenium. This has been shown (and is advised in the vet literature) to help in toxicities. Only give one per day... skip a day and then give again if the neurological symptoms are still present.
Ensure he drinks sufficiently by regularly dribbling water along its beak.
Dont worry about feed the first 24 hours and do not give grains until the bird is well on its way to recovery (just its feed)

 

[Shared Acres]

I'll try it. I gave him a dropper full of the vitamins, etc. I'll check to see if it had selenium in it. I'm out of the gel tabs.

 

[Shared Acres]

Just a note, the rooster chick seems to be doing MUCH better today.

FIL and I both think the guy had a stroke. Maybe from heat. So hopefully FIL will now heed my advice and do some cooling methods.

Roos beak is still twisted, but he is standing up, cleaning himself and, etc.

He was basically in a corner wings fluffed out, neck outstretched and beak twisted yesterday.

I'm seeing a lot of people saying their birds are fluffed out and neck outstretched all of a sudden in this hot heat, kind of wondering if they are all related.