Wry Neck and Treatment Time

[Swbertrand1]

Hey everyone! Dealing with what we now believe to be a case of wry neck versus a mold/toxin issue in an 11 week old Silkie, AND having read hundreds and hundreds of posts on the topic describing treatment methods, prevention, time, etc., we come back to one question over and over:

WHY COULD TREATMENT TAKE SO LONG TO CORRECT WRY NECK IN SUCH A SMALL BIRD (1.25 lbs)? We've read that some don't recover for 2, 3, or 4 weeks or more. Does anyone know the science behind why some chicks would recover in days while others take weeks or longer? NOTE: she's actually GAINING weight over the last 5 days as she's eating aggressively when presented with food - a good sign, but her symptoms have worsened slightly :-(

That question keeps nagging at me..... Thank you!

 

[Eggcessive]

Wry neck (torticolis) is just a symptom. It can be seen in chicks with a vitamin E or B1 thiamine deficiency, from a head injury, and is seen in a few diseases that affect the brain, such as Mareks and Newcastles. Some cases do not get better, but hopefully, in time she will. Was she vaccinated for Mareks? Some chickens including silkies, can be genetically predisposed for wry neck. Are you giving vitamin E and thiamine? I would use 400 Iu of E each day, and also give some b complex 1/4 tablet daily. Egg yolk has enough selenium to help as well.

 

[Swbertrand1]

Wry neck (torticolis) is just a symptom. It can be seen in chicks with a vitamin E or B1 thiamine deficiency, from a head injury, and is seen in a few diseases that affect the brain, such as Mareks and Newcastles. Some cases do not get better, but hopefully, in time she will. Was she vaccinated for Mareks? Some chickens including silkies, can be genetically predisposed for wry neck. Are you giving vitamin E and thiamine? I would use 400 Iu of E each day, and also give some b complex 1/4 tablet daily. Egg yolk has enough selenium to help as well.

She is a product of our backyard flock, so she is NOT vaccinated against either Mareks or Newcastle diseases, but the rest of our flock (11 other birds) are fine.
Her mother and father were both raised on the property from different stock, the father hatched here, the mother came as a chick about 3 years ago.



Here's her daily regimen. The bold items are the only variables that don't change each day. She eats her dry food without much problem, but her water intake is suspect. I make sure she gets water every couple of hours if I don't see her drinking on her own. To be sure she's eating, I always feel her crop.

It's worth noting that she doesn't seem to be NEARLY as bothered by her condition as we are! She makes all the familiar chicken sounds that all of us are used to. When we pick her up, she talks to us, even doing that almost purr-like "chirring" sound that happy chicks make. She does that ALL THE TIME when we're close to her, holding her, gently petting her, or just talking to her...

Here's the regimen:

7:30am
Water - as much as she'll take

8:00am
Starter Feed (about 4cc)
Vit-B Complex (1/4 tablet)
Vit-E (1 gelcap squeezed to the mix)
Selenium (15mcg based on her weight of 1.25#)
Dash of Rooster Booster (about 4-5 crumbles)
More water before going outside

This is mixed together to form a paste that she's hand fed sometimes; other times she'll eat it on her own out of my hand.

If she's doing ok, which is most of the time, she'll go to the run outside with her sister so they can be together; if not, she'll stay inside for another 30 minutes or so. She and her hatch-mate 1/2 sister get along perfectly and scratch and forage together while with one another. They're both super-gentle birds and were inseparable before this chick developed wry neck; NOTHING has changed on that front.

10:00am
Water mixed with Rooster Booster powder (1/3 scoop to 1 gal water ratio per the label), hand fed if she's not drinking on her own
She has access to her dry starter feed and eats with little problem most of the time, though her head is cocked to the side while eating.

12:00pm
Starter Feed (dry)
Water again if she'll take it
Naptime from 12pm to 1pm inside - she seems to tire somewhat easily

1:00pm
Starter Feed (dry)
Water if she'll take it or drink on her own
Back outside with her sister

2:00pm
Starter Feed and Yogurt with two drops of Poly-Vi-Sol whether she's eating on her own or not.
Water if she's not drinking on her own

5:30pm
Starter Feed - as much as she'll eat on her own
Water - as much as she'll drink or take
Naptime from 5:30pm to 6:30pm
Then, back outside to play with her sister

7:30pm
She comes inside so the adults and her sister can have run of the yard and do their thing

8:00pm
Starter Feed with Yogurt mixed in a paste to add the Vit-E
Vit-E mixed with the Starter and Yogurt
Water - as much as she'll take

8:30-9:30pm
She goes to sleep inside somewhere in this range...

 

[Swbertrand1]

Of course we all hope she gets better. I'm really interested in some of the science behind why similar treatment regimens might work in a few days for one bird, while it could take weeks or more in another similar-sized bird.

 

[Swbertrand1]

Anyone?

 

[Swbertrand1]

I guess not... :-(

EDIT: Oops, posted this in the wrong thread...

 

[Eggcessive]

Sorry that you are not getting the answers you need. There is more info from people who have posted on wry neck threads than scientific information in publications. You might go to the top of the page and search forums for articles. I have only seen it in one chicken, an 8 year old rooster who developed it about age 5. I tried vitamin E and thiamine, plus a little selenium with no effect. He curls his neck under when I pick him up off the roost, and when he sleeps. At other times he does not curl it, and he can walk around and eat/drink normally. He in the past had jumped off his roost flying into the wall on the opposite side of his coop, perhaps because he has a feathered face and cannot see that well. I think his problem may be from head injury.

I hope you can get some answers.

 

[Swbertrand1]

Dang it. I posted that in the wrong thread. I understand that wry neck can take time. What I'm REALLY looking for is input on Choline as a supplement to address the neurological component of the disorder, which I have asked about in another thread,

Thank you though!