Extreme case of Wry Neck

[Friskybinx]

Yesterday my almost 4 month old silkie showed signs of extreme wry neck. Completely out of nowhere. One of my other girls (same age and from same breeder) has it a little bit, but still functions just fine.

This girl can’t keep her head up, does the insane owl twisting limp noodle head and neck motions and can no longer eat or drink on her own.

I have been told to give her vitamin e with selenium paste pea sized amount 3x a day and poultry cell 1cc 2x a day. I also syringe feed egg yolk/water with a little b12 added. This evening I also basically force fed her some tuna.

Anything else I can do or should be doing differently? I feel truly horrible for her. My husband made her a little neck brace to try and help her but it’s not doing much. She just stands there with her head on the ground completely flipped upside down

 

[azygous]

You mention nothing about amounts. That is crucial. Poultry Cell has not got enough vitamin E to be therapeutic. You must give one whole 400iu E capsule. Pop it into her beak and extend her neck and she will swallow. The selenium is also needed but just a tiny amount per day.

Unless there is brain damage causing the wry neck, this should resolve in a relatively short time with proper dosage. If no improvement, increase the dosage.

As far as feeding, you can tube feed and get plenty of food into her that way. Or you can support her head and direct her beak to help her eat. Wet foods are best so she also gets fluids that way. But give her the same help drinking water. Frequent feedings of small amounts are best to keep stress at a minimum which can aggravate her condition.

 

[Eggcessive]

When a chicken has wry neck symptoms, I usually advise human Vitamin E 400 IU, along with 1/4 tablet of B complex (not B12,) and a bit of scrambled egg which has plenty of selenium. Mixing a mash of watery chicken feed and water, with the small amount of egg, it can be fed to her several times a day while holding her. Wry neck is a symptom, which can occur with a vitamin deficiency, a head or neck injury, and can also be a symptom of a few certain diseases that affect the brain. Mareks, avian influenza, and certain respiratory viruses are some of those. It can take weeks to see improvement. Silkies are especially prone to wry neck.

 

[picklestheduck]

Yesterday my almost 4 month old silkie showed signs of extreme wry neck. Completely out of nowhere. One of my other girls (same age and from same breeder) has it a little bit, but still functions just fine.

This girl can’t keep her head up, does the insane owl twisting limp noodle head and neck motions and can no longer eat or drink on her own.

I have been told to give her vitamin e with selenium paste pea sized amount 3x a day and poultry cell 1cc 2x a day. I also syringe feed egg yolk/water with a little b12 added. This evening I also basically force fed her some tuna.

Anything else I can do or should be doing differently? I feel truly horrible for her. My husband made her a little neck brace to try and help her but it’s not doing much. She just stands there with her head on the ground completely flipped upside down


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@azygous @Eggcessive

 

[Eggcessive]

I tried for about a month and a half with the above methods and hand feeding my silkie. She never showed an ounce of progress and didn’t make it. I wish I had a better outcome to report

Sorry for your loss.

Thank you for your reply and sorry for your loss. We have a 8 month old silky hen who started showing symptoms of Wry Neck about 2 days ago and have been using the suggested therapy above as well. She responded with a slight improvement energy wise within 24 hours, but still returns head to curled under position and shakes her head back and forth as well. She has short periods of holding head up, and loves her egg and oatmeal with molasses feedings. Have to use syringe for the poultry cell and squeezing of vitamin E.

Wondering if the occurrences of this condition are increasing above a normal expectation statistically but not sure where to find data to determine that

Thanks!

There can be several causes of wry neck. Injury to the head or neck, vitamin E or thiamine deficiency, or sometimes seen in certain diseases, such as Mareks, Newcastles, avian flu and others. Silkies can have vaulted skulls, and are more prone to head injury. Sometimes it can take days to weeks to see improvement if it happens. Welcome to BYC.

 

[WoDia]

Keep her separated while it’s that serious, for her own safety.

@Yorkshire Coop wrote an article in 2015:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/wry-neck-causes-treatment-and-prevention.67732/

I hope your girls improve.

 

[Friskybinx]

Keep her separated while it’s that serious, for her own safety.

@Yorkshire Coop wrote an article in 2015:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/wry-neck-causes-treatment-and-prevention.67732/

I hope your girls improve.

Thank you for that article! I do have my girl in the house now with blankets in a tub to try and help support her head.

 

[Friskybinx]

Sorry nobody replied but those experts get inundated with helping so many people. Hopefully, you knew to keep going with the E and a small amount of selenium. As per the article, there are natural sources too for E and selenium, but to begin with, you want to do as you did and as advised. If she's not back to normal, I'd keep her on heightened amts of E with small amt selenium to help her absorb it. Hopefully, she's showing major improvement!

I appreciate you responding. She hasn’t shown major improvement, but I’m trying to be patient and give it time. She will eat out of my hand now so I no longer have to force feed her but she can’t function in her own. I do have to force her to drink water and give it to her via syringe being careful not to aspirate her. It’s been rough

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Hi there. Just checking in to see how your hen is doing. Mine started with it this morning, and it is very distressing for all of us. She is inside and I am able to position her to eat by holding her. But I think she just gets exhausted and gives up. So I let her rest a while and try again. Were you giving a vitamin E pill? Aren’t they quite large? Did you crush it? Thank you.

Give the Vitamin E pill whole, it's a gel cap with oil in it, it won't crush.
Also give B-Complex. You can find both Vitamin E and B-Complex at Walmart, CVS, etc.
See the 2 posts below.

You must give one whole 400iu E capsule. Pop it into her beak and extend her neck and she will swallow.

When a chicken has wry neck symptoms, I usually advise human Vitamin E 400 IU, along with 1/4 tablet of B complex (not B12,) and a bit of scrambled egg which has plenty of selenium. Mixing a mash of watery chicken feed and water, with the small amount of egg, it can be fed to her several times a day while holding her. Wry neck is a symptom, which can occur with a vitamin deficiency, a head or neck injury, and can also be a symptom of a few certain diseases that affect the brain. Mareks, avian influenza, and certain respiratory viruses are some of those. It can take weeks to see improvement. Silkies are especially prone to wry neck.

In my original message I said I’m giving vitamin e with selenium paste pea sized amount 3x a day and poultry cell 1cc 2x a day. I also syringe feed egg yolk/water with a little b12 added - about 1/2 a CC.

Sorry if those amounts aren’t clear, I was following instructions someone else had given me.

@Friskybinx can you give an update on how your pullet is doing?

If you are giving Goat paste and she's not improving, then I would highly recommend that you follow the suggestions by the previous posters, getting a bottle of E and B-Complex and dosing her.

Giving a "Pea Size" of anything is not a dosage.

I keep seeing Goat and/or Sheep paste being used and for the life of me I can't figure out who is suggesting it or why. Surely a BYC member is not suggesting this...

Goat paste at 2ml will only provide 200IU Vitamin E, which is not enough E. It does however provide 23.2mcg Selenium which is on the upper side of max dose for a chicken.
SO...if you did try to give 400IU Vitamin E of paste, then you are WAY over the Selenium.

Poultry Cell. Even at 2cc per day, it's lacking...

 

[WoDia]

Thank you for that article! I do have my girl in the house now with blankets in a tub to try and help support her head.

You’re welcome! It sounds like she’s quite comfortable. Please give updates on her condition. Additionally, treat the flock mate that is showing mild symptoms.