Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat

Poultry and Pets => The Hen House => Topic started by: Beano on July 20, 2020, 20:29

Title: Help.Sudden bent neck.
Post by: Beano on July 20, 2020, 20:29

About two hours ago I heard a caffuffle  in the run. When I got there one of them  (there is only two) was lying on her side and when I picked her up, her neck and head were completely bent to one side. She was perfectly fine 30 minutes prior to this. I put her in a box and left her for a bit. She couldn't stand up and her head was so bent she couldn't pick it up off the floor. I kept checking on her over the next hour or so and she seems to have recovered but a little subdued.
Does anyone know what could it be or was it an accident?  She is in a separate run at the moment and I will keep her on her own for now. I hope she will be ok.

Title: Re: Help.Sudden bent neck.
Post by: New shoot on July 20, 2020, 20:52

There us a condition called wry neck, but that is a long term thing and she would not have recovered from that in a few hours.

Maybe an accident leading to some sort of seizure, or even a stroke.  Fingers crossed she is OK.

Title: Re: Help.Sudden bent neck.
Post by: grinling on July 20, 2020, 23:55

Torticollis, will need a vet for antibiotics and anti inflammatory

water on the brain: can walk backwards and fall over. crush food pellets in water and give feed by syringe every 2 to 4 hours.isolate bird. see above. treatment lasts a few weeks or cull

Mareks : paralysis 1 wing, 1 leg. moulting, torticollis, fall over. Cull. virus on feather debris.

What breed of bird?

Title: Re: Help.Sudden bent neck.
Post by: Beano on July 21, 2020, 10:28

Thanks for replies. By this morning she has layed an egg and looks OK but.. she is subdued and she eats with her neck to one side. The opposite side to last night. I wonder if that is significsnt? Does it ring any bells? Her head is upright, which makes it easy for her to feed. Her tail is up and she is walking about with her head and neck in the normal position. I tried her with the other hen but she was picked on.
She is a hybrid calder red and only two years old. She doesn't have the symptoms that you mentioned gridling. It was so sudden and catastrophic that I thought she was dying in my arms.
Any suggestions as to what I can do?

Title: Re: Help.Sudden bent neck.
Post by: Beano on July 21, 2020, 18:16

Quick update on Polly. I think she's blind in one eye. The left side the same side her head was bent. So that's why she turns to the right to feed. I wonder if she had a stroke and whether the blindness is temporary. I hope so.

Title: Re: Help.Sudden bent neck.
Post by: New shoot on July 21, 2020, 20:20

I have one that is blind in one eye.  They get used to it and just get on with life  :)

Title: Re: Help.Sudden bent neck.
Post by: Beano on July 21, 2020, 21:35

Thank you New Shoot for your words of encouragement. I just hope she doesn't get another "incident" and that the other hen will leave her alone.

Title: Re: Help.Sudden bent neck.
Post by: Beano on July 23, 2020, 17:31

Another quick update. They are  both together and Dot  (that's the other hen) has watched her for a while, gave her a couple of testing pecks and decided that, whatever it is that's wrong with her, is not contagious. Phew