Young Silkie Female "Ruthie" cannot hold her head up

[MoxyRoxy]

I purchased these at auction on Saturday, young male and female. Buzz the rooster is doing fine. But his mate Ruthie cannot hold her head up, its looped down between her knees, each day its getting worse. She has been on polyvsol vitamins no iron, and was eating and drinking, but not sure about today. She looks miserable. this is the second silkie female I have gotten from the auction with this problem. The other did not survive. Any ideas?

 

[Chickenmaven]

Sorry to hear of your troubles.

There are soooo many chicken illnesses; it could be anything. If you really want to get into Silkies, find a local breeder & forget the auctions. I know that sounds harsh, but auctions are INFAMOUS. Try to find a source that is reputable. Also, you might consider that the auction birds that survive can be disease carriers to any future birds. What I am hinting at is that you might want a *CLEAN* start.

There's been alot written on BYC on biosecurity. Read up & keep asking questions.

 

[Majestic Lane Poultry]

What she has is called wry neck. It can be corrected with time and patience and loads of tlc. Go to browneggblueegg.com and read what to do. I use 1 selenium tablet per gallon of water.

My last little wry neck baby will be in her first asbc special meet this Saturday

 

[artsyrobin]

for wry neck, get some polyvisol infant vitamins, without iron, it will be in the vitamin section of your store- they are liquid drops, give her a couple drops on her beak twice a day for 5 days. Silkies tend to have vitamin deficiencies, i give mine vitamins in their water once they have gotten over wry neck, also watch her to make sure she doesn't get trampled, you may need to seperate her until she gets past this. Also make sure she can eat, might have to hand feed her- here is a thread on it-

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=269788

 

[Majestic Lane Poultry]

My girl lived in a dog cage in the living room all winter long, seperated from the rest of the flock. Once I calmed her down, I would simply place her beak in the food and water and she did the rest by herself. When we started the journey , I had to hold her still and use an eyedropper so she wouldn't dehydrate.

 

[cobrien]

I am not convinced it's wry neck, it sounds like she could just be weak - hard to say. if you want to save her, a vet is your best option. if not, then try to tempt to eat and drink as much as you can and keep her warm. feed scrambled eggs and continue the vitamin water.

if the worst happens and she doesn't make it, you might want to consider a necropsy. some vets do it for free, some state vets do it for free or for cheap, it is worth the cost to find out if your flock has been exposed to anything infectious.

 

[Majestic Lane Poultry]

I received a pm to help me understand better.

From what I have just read, it may be a head injury instead.
Separation and tlc are still the keys to recovery.

Hope this helps.