Sudden Twisted Neck and Stumbling - Wry Neck?

[CrazyConure]

1) What type of bird , age and weight (does the chicken seem or feel lighter or thinner than the others.)
Golden Laced Wyandotte, 14 weeks, 2.5 lbs (digital bathroom scale).


2) What is the behavior, exactly.
Barely eating, barely drinking, stumbling, falling, sits still and lethargy.


3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms?
We noticed her off in a corner not moving, with a bulge near her breast yesterday morning. We assumed impacted crop and removed her from the rest of the birds. This morning, I am positive it isn't her crop as I can feel vertebrae in the bulge and can follow her neck bones into it with my finger..


4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms?
No, none of my other birds are anything but perfectly healthy and acting normal.


5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma.
A boney bulge in her breast area, crooked neck cocked off to the right. No trauma or wounds.


6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation.
Unknown. She was fine one day, and not the next.


7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all.
Dumor Grower/Finisher, mix grain scratch, grass, and the occasional bug. Water. Hasn't been eating much since she was discovered yesterday morning.


8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc.
No poop since I separated her from the rest of the girls yesterday.


9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far?
Isolation, access to feed and water. When I believed it was an impacted crop, I removed her feed and force fed one eye dropper full of canola oil.


10 ) What is your intent as far as treatment? For example, do you want to treat completely yourself, or do you need help in stabilizing the bird til you can get to a vet?
I will treat completely myself. A vet will not be involved.


11) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help.
Pictures will be posted.


12) Describe the housing/bedding in use
16' x 16' enclosed run with a 4'x8' wooden house coop raised 18 inches off the ground to allow an additional 4'x8' area of run, two roosting bars one at approx 18 inches off the floor and the other approx 30 inches off the floor, nest boxes accessible from the exterior, a ramp leading to the door from the ground, pine flake bedding (tractor supply.)






















Thanks for your help!

~Chris

EDIT: She is vaccinated against Marek's.

 

[CrazyConure]

Just went back out to check on her. She seems to be breathing only through her mouth. She has a crusted discharge from her nostrils, and a clear liquid discharge surrounding that.

 

[CrazyConure]

Just gave her the concoction of Vitamin E, Selenium and B Complex mentioned by Three Cedars Silkies in https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/382088/wry-neck-treat-or-euthanize-updated-with-great-results/10 minus the prednisone.

Would really appreciate some input on whether or not it seems that I'm on the right track, or if I should just let her be, or if I should cull.

 

[CrazyConure]

Been reading more on this forum and see there is another condition called "star gazing." Though her neck is crooked and her head is turned, she never looks up.

Any ideas?

Thanks!

 

[CrazyConure]

She seems to be eating and drinking a little bit here and there on her own. Her neck is still very twisted and really doesn't show any improvement. I've also discovered she has lice. She has a strange odor as well.

Any thoughts? Ideas? Suggestions? Am I on the right track with giving her Vitamin E, Selenium, and B Complex?

 

[CrazyConure]

The other night she was upside down, head laid off to the side, legs shaking in the air. I turned her over and she ate, drank, and turned her head all the way to the left. Since then, she has been eating and drinking, extending her head forward and down to drink, but not back to the left again. She still has the bulge of her neck bones out in front, still shaped like a Z that is flat. Folks at TSC believe it's Wry Neck. I'm continuing to give her vitamins once a day, in addition to save-a-chick in her water, but I'm not noticing any improvement to her neck. Her feathers have also started looking bad in several places, possibly from pecking and pulling in some spots, not sure in the others.

 

[Eggcessive]

I am sorry that you have not received any replies to your posts so far, but you are on the right track treating for wry neck, also called crook neck, or torticolis. The neck can become twisted or pointed up or down in these birds. Wry neck is only a symptom of either an injury, a vitamin deficiency, or due to a disease such as Mareks, leukosis, fowl cholera, Newcastles disease, and others affecting the brain. Treatment is to reduce noise and stress, treat as you are with vitamin E, vitamin B1 (thiamine,), and selenium. Selenium is found in many foods such as eggs, tuna, slamon, chopped meat, and nuts or seeds. The biggest challenge is feeding and getting enough water into them. Was she vaccinated for Mareks? That would be something that could be possible. There are many things that can resemble Mareks, such as lead poisoning, eating moldy feed, and others. Here is some info about feeding, wry neck, and Mareks disease:

http://www.browneggblueegg.com/Article/Crookneck/Crookneck.html
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/97121/lets-talk-wry-neck-crook-neck
https://extension.unh.edu/resources/files/Resource000791_Rep813.pdf
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/the-great-big-giant-mareks-disease-faq

 

[CrazyConure]

I am sorry that you have not received any replies to your posts so far, but you are on the right track treating for wry neck, also called crook neck, or torticolis. The neck can become twisted or pointed up or down in these birds. Wry neck is only a symptom of either an injury, a vitamin deficiency, or due to a disease such as Mareks, leukosis, fowl cholera, Newcastles disease, and others affecting the brain. Treatment is to reduce noise and stress, treat as you are with vitamin E, vitamin B1 (thiamine,), and selenium. Selenium is found in many foods such as eggs, tuna, slamon, chopped meat, and nuts or seeds. The biggest challenge is feeding and getting enough water into them. Was she vaccinated for Mareks? That would be something that could be possible. There are many things that can resemble Mareks, such as lead poisoning, eating moldy feed, and others. Here is some info about feeding, wry neck, and Mareks disease:

http://www.browneggblueegg.com/Article/Crookneck/Crookneck.html
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/97121/lets-talk-wry-neck-crook-neck
https://extension.unh.edu/resources/files/Resource000791_Rep813.pdf
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/the-great-big-giant-mareks-disease-faq

Thank you so much for your response! She was vaccinated for Mareks, so I don't think it's that. None of the rest of the flock has a crooked neck, sniffling, feather issues, or eating and drinking issues.

 

[CrazyConure]

She is showing a definite improvement now with the vitamins, she's feisty again and is eating and drinking as normal. I think I finally figured out the root cause to the vitamin deficiency which lead to wry neck.

Apparently, her left leg is broken. I hadn't noticed due to a lack of swelling. Yesterday, I let her out in the yard (separate from the rest of the flock) during the day and when I went to put her back in the box for the night, I noticed her left leg, just south of the joint, was swollen to about 2.5 it's normal size for a about 1 inch. She was able to put weight on her leg, but stumbles when she walks. I put her back in the box to restrict her mobility as much as possible.

It also explains why she is the only one with lice... she hasn't been able to dust herself.

I don't know how she broke it or exactly how long it's been broken, but it must have been at least a few days. How does a leg take to be considered healed?

 

[Eggcessive]

According to what I have read, broken bones take about 2 to 3 weeks to heal with a good callus formation. I hope she recovers soon.