Bared Rock blind from birth

[roostershot]

I got 7 one day old chicks, 6 bared rock females and 1 Rhode Island red rooster. I bought them May 26th & noticed after a couple days one wasn't action right. She was walking in circles & having trouble finding the opening in the feeder. I found out she was blind so my wife & I helped her find the food & water. She has done great, but in the last few weeks the rooster has gotten agressive and pecks her to the point she is hiding in the corner of the coop. He pecks some of the others hard too, but the blind one more than the others. 1. Has anyone raised a blind chicken from birth? Anything to watch out for? 2. Will she be OK if I keep her in an indoor pen by herself for the winter, or should I keep her with the other hens & get rid of the rooster? They are 5 months old & she has been doing fine until the rooster started being ugly. I guess as I write this I know the answer, but would still like your opinions.

 

[bloom_ss]

My personal opinion would be to get rid of the rooster. That is what I would do anyway...he doesn't sound very nice to me.

 

[teddiliza]

Quote:
I think if she was doing fine with the other hens, get rid of the rooster. He might start scalping your hens. I have a blind pullet bantam who was born with her eyes formed inside out-- they kind of bulge out. She survived by following the other chicks to the food and water after I fed her for a few days with a syringe with watered down chick feed. I had her a cross beak friend chick who I had to euthanize d/t not being able to get enough nutrition, but she couldn't peck my blind pullet's eyes, so they were good buddies. I really wish the crossbeak had made it. She is in her own big tupperware 'brooder' box and feels secure with the food and water always in the same location. Of course, she does not have much companionship, but the one day I tried to put a few older chicks in with her she got territorial and started attacking them believe it or not-- You don't have to see to be protective of your space. She lays an egg for me almost daily, and I never have to worry about her being peckish to my daughter. I do have to periodically trim her beak and claws since she doesn't get outside unless supervised. It actually stresses her to be in an unfamiliar place.

 

[Swissmiss989]

Quote:
Same here I would remove the roo. RIRs have a tendency to be mean in general. I have a few mixed breed with RIR in it and they all have tudes. I also had to remove my RIR roo because he was highly aggressive. To me to the babies and rough with the hens.

 

[KandiandJerry]

I would also get rid of the Roo.....and good luck with Her......

 

[chinadollgreen]

We have a 5 year old blind hen and she is in a cage by herself. We take her out in the yard daily and put a light on her in the winter and she is fine. My rooster is rough on our hens and we are thinking of separating them.

 

[roostershot]

Thank you everyone for the input. I built a seperate cage & put the rooster in it late today. He had a fit. He kicked his water & feeder over, threw himself against the wire and had a tantrum. He settled down when it got dark. I don't have a heated place to keep him this winter. He is in his cage in an unheated barn so I guess I can keep him there with a heat lamp over his cage & see how that works. I may have to close in the cage so I can keep it heated.