Blind and confused hen.

[Avalon1984]

Another bit of food for thought and it may not work for you but I kept the chicken that was blind due to being pecked in both eyes separate and I put her in a fark area so that her eyes wouldn't strain. It has been 2 weeks now and she has gained about 30% of her eyesight back. It is not completely dark in her area, it more like a dim light. She likes it.

 

[rbaker0345]

Could she have eye worms?

 

[everway9]

Hi again. I thought I'd update you on the situation and ask a little advice.

Jessica has been eating and drinking well. Now wormed her poo looks quite healthy. The weathers been quite cold here over the last few days. Since she is our lone hen I have been making a small coop for her inside our house. It's functioning but not yet finished but I will post a picture of the completed coop as soon as possible.

The temperature outside is about 3 - 5 degrees C during the night and about 6 - 9 degrees C during the day. Inside it varies between 14 and 24 degrees. I was unsure whether to put her outside this morning. I was a little worried the sudden temperature drop would be bad for her.

Would she cope with the sudden temperature drop ok? She does need as much natural daylight as possible doesn't she? Or will she be fine with what she gets inside. I'm reluctant to keep her inside all day even if its cold because I'm thinking that it would not be very good for her health. But on the other hand I don't want her to suffer from the cold weather. Also bearing in mind that the coming months will be a lot colder and have shorter daylight hours. I want her to have a life that's as close to normal as possible.

Thanks again.

 

[chickflick]

I wouldn't subject her to extreme temperature changes. Is she near a window?? If so, that will be enough light for her. I'm glad she's doing well. She could be your house chicken. I mean, people have all kinds of parrots and exotic birds in the house and no one thinks twice. Why all the hoopla cuz it's a chicken??

 

[everway9]

Thank you. Well yes! Why not have a chicken in the house. We have 2 Dogs, 4 Cats, 2 Tarantulas and now a Chicken! I'm glad to say that the cats and dogs are chicken friendly although I'm not so sure about the Tarantulas. Atleast the Tarantulas are in their own enclosures and escape is unlikely............. I hope!

Thanks again.

 

[drumstick diva]

friend of mine has had housechickens over the past 20 years, she has a chicken friendly dog (pekeapoo), canaries, turtles, beta fighting fish in separate bowls, etc. In fact when the chickens get spooked by anything they run to the dog for safety. If she had a companion, she could probably take going out in cold weather etc. because they were huddle or go back to a well insulated mini coop together

 

[everway9]

Good Stuff!

 

[everway9]

Avalon1984 & rbaker0345.

I'm sorry not acknowledging your last posts. I missed them somehow. Anyway... thanks.

Jessica's new coop is in our dining room which only has one window and its south facing so there's not much direct sunlight if any throughout the day. I am putting a cover over her coop from dusk to dawn (good film

) as we are constantly walking through the dining room to the kitchen until we go to bed. Hopefully its not too bright for her at anytime. Unfortunately I don't think her sight will get any better than it is. I think she has had some sort of internal trauma to the head or it is just old age. I know she can tell the difference between light and dark objects and terrain. The contrast in her sight obviously works a bit but I think that's all.

Eye worms? I don't think so. Her eyes look quite healthy considering shes blind. Is there an obvious symptom to look out for?

Thanks again.

 

[chickflick]

Krisrose has a almost blind chicken. The chicken's pupil changed into a different shape. Almost like a cat's eye. When my chicken went blind, the same thing happened. Your chicken's eyes look so normal. Bright eyed. Doesn't even look like there is anything wrong.

 

[everway9]

Strange isn't it? If I get the time tomorrow I'm going to take some more pics to upload. Some of her new "house-coop". And I'll get some new shots of her eyes.