Wry neck which anti-inflammatory & antibiotic

[ChristinaDynamicFarm]

Sorry this is long. My questions based on my reading. I went to many different sites and forums (this one included)
Please any help is greatly appreciated. This is my 11 year olds favorite rooster.

My questions are -
1. What kind of anti-inflammatory is acceptable to be used for chickens please? From my reading I read 5mls of suspended motrin (didn't give the mg per mls though) I have 100mg per 5mls at my house.

2. What is the best antibiotic to give if this is fungal or bacterial please? I have Tylan 50 (50mg per ml), a broad spectrum powder antibiotic that has Oxytetracycline HCI 100mg, Amprolium 50mg, Bagan pembantu sample 1 g, and oxytetravet not sure of the mg measurements.

3. How much Vitamin E is really too much since it's fat soluble? So many different answers.

Emergency answers to questions:
1) Ameraucana Rooster, age 9 months, weight 7lbs? A little lighter than normal

2) What is the behavior, exactly. - twisting and turning head upside down enough that he flips over about half of the time.

3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms? We found him not on the roost during closing the coop Thursday Jan 26th. At that time his head was just a little turned sideways and he seemed off balance. I thought Possibly an ear issue on Day 1 in evening. Next morning he seemed okay. Day 2 he started twisting and turning his neck upside down.

4) No other birds are exhibiting the same symptoms.

5) We can't find any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma.

6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation. - the only possibility I can think of is that we had extra fruit of grapes, apples, and oranges that we put out for the animals that week (chickens and ducks).

7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all. He was on layer chicken pellets and drinking well water, rain water, and/or pond water.

8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc. 1st day is was sold and dry. 2nd day solid but softer, 3rd & 4th days are runny. No blood

9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far?
Day 1 (night) Nutri-drench and eggs - turned sideways then seemed better after an hour.
Day 2 Nutri-drench, eggs, 1 400iu Vitamin E capsule sqeezed onto eggs. All mixed together. Morning seemed okay evening a little more twisted.
Day 3 Nutri-drench, eggs, 3 Vitamin E capsules on food, sunflower seeds, rooster booster, and layer pellets. Morning he seemed better but tilted. Afternoon and evening was turning and twisting more intermittently.
Day 4 Nutri-drench, eggs, 3 Vitamin E capsules on food, sunflower seeds, rooster booster, and layer pellets. And added some yeast flakes sprinkled in food. Worse twisting and turning and flipping. When he calms down it is less but still there and then acts up again.

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?
Treat him myself if possible. If not, then vet.

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

12) Describe the housing/bedding in use. His normal housing and is a wooden coop with 4 sides of wood and screened area attached through a door. Screened area is wrapped mostly in plastic due to winter. Poplar sawdust

Right now he is in the house switching between cages. 1 small to keep him upright and a larger one when he isn't twisting as much or my daughter is watching him.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

We found him not on the roost during closing the coop Thursday Jan 26th. At that time his head was just a little turned sideways and he seemed off balance. I thought Possibly an ear issue on Day 1 in evening. Next morning he seemed okay. Day 2 he started twisting and turning his neck upside down.

Today is January 22, 2023 - so when did you first notice symptoms? Last Thursday the 19th (4 days ago)?

Where are you located in the world?

Please post photos of the rooster and his poop. A video of his actions would be nice, upload video to YouTube and provide a link.

Could he have suffered injury somehow?

Wry Neck is the name of a neurological symptom - some common causes are disease like Marek's, trauma to the head/neck, possible vitamin deficiency and developmental disorders.

Wry Neck is usually treated with vitamin therapy, not antibiotics nor nsaids.
400IU Vitamin E and 1/4 tablet B-Complex daily along with a small treat of egg, tuna or sunflower seeds is the normal treatment.

Giving more is not always best - I see you are giving PND and 1-3 Vitamin E gels daily. Only give 400IU Vitamin E, omit the PND and use the B-Complex.

Any lice/mites, canker or lesions inside his beak?

 

[ChristinaDynamicFarm]

Today is January 22, 2023 - so when did you first notice symptoms? Last Thursday the 19th (4 days ago)?

Where are you located in the world?

Please post photos of the rooster and his poop. A video of his actions would be nice, upload video to YouTube and provide a link.

Could he have suffered injury somehow?

Wry Neck is the name of a neurological symptom - some common causes are disease like Marek's, trauma to the head/neck, possible vitamin deficiency and developmental disorders.

Wry Neck is usually treated with vitamin therapy, not antibiotics nor nsaids.
400IU Vitamin E and 1/4 tablet B-Complex daily along with a small treat of egg, tuna or sunflower seeds is the normal treatment.

Giving more is not always best - I see you are giving PND and 1-3 Vitamin E gels daily. Only give 400IU Vitamin E, omit the PND and use the B-Complex.

Any lice/mites, canker or lesions inside his beak?

Thank you for your response and guidance. My apologies, yes it was 4 days ago Jan 19th. He now has blood in his poop. I didn't see any lice/mites, but I could have missed them. I read that the motrin or carprofen (I have that too) helps with pain and to relax muscles so I thought that it might give him some relief from twisting.
I haven't dewormed everyone since earlier this Summer, so he probably hasn't been dewormed because he would have been younger.

I am near Columbus, Ohio.
I will not give any more PND and not give more than 1 Vitamin E.
I don't see any ulcers in his mouth. He looks to have a split in the roof of his mouth. Is that normal? He could have had an injury and I don't know about it. Maybe he got knocked off the roost or a duck bit him?

Video on Friday Day 2 when he seemed to be better and not turned up

Video today Day 4

Here he is when he was well.

 

[Eggcessive]

The split in the roof of the beak is the normal choanal slit. The orange matter in the dropping looks like intestinal shed. Does every dropping have that? He may need help eating while he has wry neck, so if he cannot get enough, you can add water to his feed and some scrambled egg, and help him eat. Sometimes they might need to be wrapped in a towel, but he also might take the food a little at a time if held up to his beak. Do you have another rooster who he may have tussled with?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

He's scratching at his ear. He doesn't have any mites or lice and his ears are very clean correct?

Yes, as Kim mentioned, the slit is normal inside the beak.

Pretty Boy! Hopefully with vitamin therapy he will start to improve.

 

[ChristinaDynamicFarm]

The split in the roof of the beak is the normal choanal slit. The orange matter in the dropping looks like intestinal shed. Does every dropping have that? He may need help eating while he has wry neck, so if he cannot get enough, you can add water to his feed and some scrambled egg, and help him eat. Sometimes they might need to be wrapped in a towel, but he also might take the food a little at a time if held up to his beak. Do you have another rooster who he may have tussled with?

Thanks for letting me know the roof of the beak is normal. I have 2 other roosters that it is possible that he tusseled with, though I have never seen either one bother him, but that doesn't mean it couldn't happen. I added a couple videos for how we have been feeding him. Does it hurt them if we hold his neck still with a towel wrap? Is it muscle spasms or just loss of control? He is able to sorta upright his head enough to eat. If he hit his head or got hit in the head, what is the treatment for that?

You mentioned to feed the eggs as a snack, correct? So I wet his normal pellets and give them to him probably 4 times a day? I worry that he won't get enough to eat/ drink. We have made sure that he doesn't get straight water and it is mixed into something he doesn't aspirate. I am assuming that he could aspirate when tossing his head?

He has had a little orange in some poop, but not all.

This is day 4 at the end of the day.

Here he is eating for the 1st time of the day yesterday. He seems to do better in the morning.

If he has mites or lice, could that cause this to happen?

 

[ChristinaDynamicFarm]

He's scratching at his ear. He doesn't have any mites or lice and his ears are very clean correct?

Yes, as Kim mentioned, the slit is normal inside the beak.

Pretty Boy! Hopefully with vitamin therapy he will start to improve.

I do not see any mites or lice, but I am not so sure I am good at looking for them. What is the recommended treatment for them? I have ivermectin pour on and usually use 2-3 drops of it on their back.

We double checked his ears and they look clean.

He is pushing himself backwards in his cage and has his tail pushed up against the edge. I am guessing that is from trying to stand up. He doesn't seem to be getting better.

Weird thing is that when we found him he was just starting to get bad and has gotten worse since the evening of day 2.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Ivermectin pour on would take care of Mites. Dose is 0.09ml per pound of weight applied to the base of the neck along the spine making sure to come into contact with the skin. Repeat in 10-14 days.

Pushing backwards is often part of the symptoms you see with Wry Neck.
I'd keep up with the vitamins.
Looks like he's able to target the eggs even with his neck twisting a little, which is good.