Brain damaged hen??

[Irishsilk]

Hi. We got 50 point of lay ISA Brown hens a month ago. They are now free ranging and starting to lay.
We noticed that one is totally blind in one eye ( obvious as her eye is opaque) with hardly any sight in the other eye. She seems happy enough now and has settled in.
My worry is for another hen....although she looks normal something is very wrong.
I don't think she has much sight at all. No reaction to placing my hand up to her eyes. She comes out of the barn with the others and wonders around the paddock....walking into clumps of flowers and not being able to get herself out. When I call them all she comes running but runs into me and into all the other hens as if she is following the sound of my voice and running with the others. But what really concerns me is this...when I put food in front of her she doesn't seem to know how to eat it. She sticks her head into the grain as if she is desperate to eat....but just shakes her head amongst the food without opening her beak. If I feed her by hand she just rummages her head into the food,again not opening her beak. It's like she is hungry but no one has told her how to eat???
Any one got any ideas?? Thankyou!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Hi @Irishsilk
Can you post a photo of her and they eyes?
How long have you had them?
It's hard to know what's going on with her. You may need to separate her so you can monitor her more closely. See if she can eat from a raised feeder or maybe eat wet feed.
Is she able to drink?

Could be that she is blind or has a developmental/genetic disorder, but if she has gotten to POL she has had to be able to eat/drink properly during this time - she may have gotten injured during shipping(?) Provide her with poultry vitamins that contain A, E and B vitamins to see if those make any difference.

Depending on your goals, how much time you want to take caring for her, etc. - you may need to try tube feeding her to keep her going until you figure out if she will improve or not.

 

[Irishsilk]

Thanks for yr reply!
Is it complicated to post a video?? Anyone able to give instructions for a techno phobic granny??

 

[Irishsilk]

Using a Motorola phone?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

LOL The only way I know how to post a video would be to upload it to youtube, then provide us a link -- I'm not tech savvy