wry neck or something else?

[loveourbirds]

I just found this rooster (about 4:30 pm this afternoon) when I checked on the chickens this morning he seemed to be fine. yesterday he was great, eating, drinking and breeding. I have looked down his throat and cant see anything in his esophagus. I am having trouble looking all the way down, but I cant see any signs of worms or food. there is a lump on the outside of his neck, I can see down past where the lump is.

I have isolated him from the rest of the pen, he is on a wood floor; bedded in large poplar shavings. they have feed and water. his weight is good, and he still fights as in not wanting to be picked up. I cant hear any signs of rattle in the breathing, and there is no smell when I smell his mouth. nostrils seem clear, hearing seems to be ok but im not sure how to check it. his eyes are clear and bright. he is sometimes holding his head up side down. he is starting into molt if that changes anything. diet is: range bird pellets, cracked corn, wheat, BOSS, molasses, and oats. occasional dried meal worms, and grass; no meal worms in the past week, no grass since Friday (3 days). in the bottom picture he is in the upright position. im waiting to give any treatments, hoping someone else has encountered this and has some good information.












thanks in advance for any and all help you can give.

 

[realsis]

Yes this looks like wry neck. I'm still treating my bird right now for it.my bird had her head and neck tucked between her legs and was actually doing flips. Three weeks later she is holding her head up straight and acting like a normal chicken thank God! The treatment really works! First have patience.he might need help eating and drinking. The treatment I did formy bird was alan stanfords treatment for wry neck. you can find the treatment with exact doses and schedules on his web site browneggblueegg.com once you go to his site on the.left side is a glossery click on crock neck.his treatment basically consists of vivitaminE tablets selenium to absorb the vitamin E and polyvisol liquid children's vitamins without iron vitamin B and predinsone for the brain swelling. I highly recommend you read his treatment.it worked wonderfully for my bird thank God.he mentions silkies in his treatment but it would be for any bird. Do not give up hope this can be cured. I'm more than happy to help you if you have any questions. please feel free to private message me if you have any questions at all! Have patience and I'm sure he will be just fine
It worked like a miracle for my bird and she was bad off! Best wishes your not alone with this!

 

[loveourbirds]

my vet wont prescribe the prednisone - unless I put the chicken in his "care ward". unfortunately I live in the drug and pill capitol of the U.S. im starting vitamin E and B suppliments; E is in pill form, B as brewers yeast. I can get amoxicillin from my vet tomorrow, but I do have the 2 main water soluable antibiotics and tylan here. do you think any of them would be acceptable? also, will baby asprin help with the swelling? I do have some vetprofen and some regular ibuprofen if you think either of those will work too.

 

[loveourbirds]

i don't know how this is going to turn out, but im putting the info here for everyone else. i gave a crushed vitamin E pill and brewers yeast mixed with some chick starter, and 1/2 of a 50mg tablet of ibuprofen. i mixed this with a small amount of sour cream and similac (more vitamin E and B and selenium its the only source i had at the moment) and added a very small amount of vitamins and electrolytes powder to the mix; i added enough water to soften it to the consistency of pudding. the total amount of everything was about 1/2 cup. when everything was soft i fed him with a syringe by squirting small amounts in his mouth. he has eaten pretty well, and drank some water. i have him in front of me on a towl, he has tried to get up and walk around but he is still to disoriented. i have not added any antibiotic as there is amprolium in in the chick starter. i plan on getting some amoxicillin from the vet tomorrow.

 

[loveourbirds]

its 3:00 pm on day 2. I didn't go to the vet, the bird was not moving this morning other than breathing. I purchased some b vitamins complex, and gave him an injection of it, and tylan. im pretty sure hes not going to make it, and that this isn't wry neck. im going to cull him after I write this. I have separated his hens, bleached the cage, along with all neighboring cages. im thinking this is a bacterial problem, so far no other birds are showing any symptoms. all are eating and drinking well. I am mixing vitamins and electrolytes in their water.
by research I would guess its botulism, but I don't know where it would have came from. we burn all carcasses here. however we do live in the woods and I guess its possible it came from flies feeding on a dead carcass of another animal nearby?
his bowel movements have been white, to brown and white. still no rattling in his breathing, no smells from his mouth. nostrils are still clear. comb has darkened a little, im guessing from dehydration.

if anyone has any info on what I could have done wrong, please post it here so the next person might have better luck.

here are some links others might find useful.
http://www.nda.agric.za/docs/nervous/
http://forum.backyardpoultry.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=8009600
http://www.merckmanuals.com/vet/pou...rview_of_botulism_in_poultry.html?qt=&sc=&alt=

I also want to thank realsis and sumi for their help.

 

[loveourbirds]

swab cultures came back negative, we are writing it off as a heat stroke; I am still unsure of what it was.