Blind hen not eating

[Keepin A Breast]

Hi all. I have a blind hen that has actually been doing very well until a few weeks ago. She is a cochin cross of some kind, maybe six?

We got some chicks for her, which she raised. We gave them the choice of staying with her or going in with the other chickens and all the chicks moved out. She seemed a little depressed but was still eating. Her run is right next to theirs so she can hear them.

About two or three weeks ago she sort of quit eating with gusto and has just gone down hill. There are no other symptoms other than the not eating and weight loss. She still drinks very well. She comes out of her coop and walks around her run. She knows where the shade is. I go out at least twice to four times a day and make sure she has access to what she needs, if she will eat at all. She has access to a complete mash that supposedly has grit, fermented feed, meal worms etc and I have mixed other chick grits and sand and offered her. So I know she has grit.

If she eats now, it's like she is constantly having to adjust her crop, wiggling her head around. I have tried everything I can think of to stimulate her appetite. Any ideas? She is one of our only named "pet" chickens. She is a great little mama, I sure would like to keep her around!

 

[000]

This is going to sound really weird, but smell her breath. If it smells fermented or sour then she might have sour crop. Here is a site about that and other crop issues:

http://www.tillysnest.com/2012/01/crop-issues.html

About a year ago I had a hen and a rooster that loved each other. The hen died and the rooster became very depressed. he stopped eating and just sat inside all day. It lasted about 1 week then he was fine. If you determine that it is not a crop issue then I would start feeding it with a syringe. Good luck!