Hi there, this is a medical issue, but not an emergency, so I apologize if this is posted in the wrong area.
It would appear that one of my pullets has a problem with her vision.
I am in Sydney, Australia, and I have owned backyard chickens for a few years. Back in July, I added three pullets to my flock. They are currently around 6 months old.
I started noticing that one of them seemed to have a bit of trouble finding its way out of the coop, as she was having trouble distinguishing the exit from the chicken wire. Since then I have noticed that she's definitely vision impaired. She may have always been this way, but I only noticed it a few weeks after buying them.
Her pupils are kind of white and milky (see attached image). She seems to be able to find the feeder and the water bowl, but sometimes when she bends over to feed, she misses the feeder entirely. She's a very robust bird, so I don't believe she's malnourished, but she doesn't even seem to attempt feeding from the ground when I throw out some seed. She spends a large portion of her day just sitting down in a corner with her eyes closed. None of the other pullets (or my other adult hens) have this issue.
She's a Sussex, around 6 months old, and she's a big bird. She doesn't seem to be thin or malnourished at all.
The chickens are kept in the coop at night, and free range all day.
The coops are kept clean and I use wood shavings as bedding.
They are fed a high quality feed, as well as some occasional corn/cucumber/tomato (whatever is left over).
Is this a common issue? Is it treatable? Is it likely to get worse?
I would appreciate any information anyone might have on this condition.
Thanks in advance.
Bruce
It would appear that one of my pullets has a problem with her vision.
I am in Sydney, Australia, and I have owned backyard chickens for a few years. Back in July, I added three pullets to my flock. They are currently around 6 months old.
I started noticing that one of them seemed to have a bit of trouble finding its way out of the coop, as she was having trouble distinguishing the exit from the chicken wire. Since then I have noticed that she's definitely vision impaired. She may have always been this way, but I only noticed it a few weeks after buying them.
Her pupils are kind of white and milky (see attached image). She seems to be able to find the feeder and the water bowl, but sometimes when she bends over to feed, she misses the feeder entirely. She's a very robust bird, so I don't believe she's malnourished, but she doesn't even seem to attempt feeding from the ground when I throw out some seed. She spends a large portion of her day just sitting down in a corner with her eyes closed. None of the other pullets (or my other adult hens) have this issue.
She's a Sussex, around 6 months old, and she's a big bird. She doesn't seem to be thin or malnourished at all.
The chickens are kept in the coop at night, and free range all day.
The coops are kept clean and I use wood shavings as bedding.
They are fed a high quality feed, as well as some occasional corn/cucumber/tomato (whatever is left over).
Is this a common issue? Is it treatable? Is it likely to get worse?
I would appreciate any information anyone might have on this condition.
Thanks in advance.
Bruce