Blindness

[leebottrill]

Hi guys, I have an ex battery hen who has slowly become blind. She is now almost completely blind and missing food in front of her. She strolls around the pen not really knowing where she is. I have been to the vet's and they didn't say anything or offer any real advice. Do you think the best thing to do is to put her down or should I leave her be? Her eyes look completely fine the pupils dilate with light there's no reason I can see why she would have gone blind

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I'm sorry you're having trouble.

It's hard to determine the cause of blindness. It could be a vitamin/nutritional deficiency. You can try offering poultry vitamins with A and E to see if there is improvement. Provide her with some fresh greens and make sure she is eating/drinking well.

Some causes of blindness:
https://poultrykeeper.com/external-problems/blindness/
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps031
List of vitamins:
http://www.tillysnest.com/2014/03/vitamin-deficiencies-in-backyard-chicks-html/
Help in keeping a chicken that is blind:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1024494/keeping-a-blind-chicken

 

[leebottrill]

Thank you for all that advice I've actually read a couple of articles that you've suggested there. The hen is an ex battery hen and I've had her for over a year now. I had four at the time and have already lost one last week. I wonder if this was something that was going to happen or whether it's something that I'm missing? I have 7 other hens and the others seem fine and healthy. They've been wormed and live in a relatively clean environment