Healthy chicken gone blind

[jaywin]

Hi all
I’m so sad as one of my CLB has gone blind. She is healthy looking - poop normal eating and drinking when I put her in front of food and water.
She’s had antibiotics and eye drops and two weeks in the ‘hospital’ but no improvement in eye sight.
I’ve now put her back with the flock as I think her only chance to to orientate herself in the area they live.
Il keep all feeders and water in exact same spots. Feeders are red so hopefully if she can see a bit she might get used to them. And I’ve ordered red waterers
As she acts very shy now she is prone to get picked on I fear.
I feel I have to give her a chance to fit in and survive and I need to just toughen up whilst she does so but I can’t help feel sad.
I could dispatch her and feel I may have to if her life is not worth living ie: hiding under coop all day unless I get her out to eat and drink.
She did come out with the rest this morning so I keep getting a glimmer of hope but I fear it is wishful thinking she is currently wal look my up and down the fence line miles from the flock and under trees.

 

[Eggcessive]

In your previous thread, it may be light in the pictures, but is there any milky material covering her eyes? Is there any ammonia odor inside the coop, and do you have a well ventilated coop, especially above their roosts?

I would try to keep her with the flock, and not remove her, unless she is being hurt by the others. If you separate her or bring her elsewhere, she may get picked on more by the others. Sorry about your hen, but blind chicken may live a decent life in a familiar environment. You may have to make adjustments for her though, making sure that she can get in and out of the coop.

 

[Banana01]

Hi all
I’m so sad as one of my CLB has gone blind. She is healthy looking - poop normal eating and drinking when I put her in front of food and water.
She’s had antibiotics and eye drops and two weeks in the ‘hospital’ but no improvement in eye sight.
I’ve now put her back with the flock as I think her only chance to to orientate herself in the area they live.
Il keep all feeders and water in exact same spots. Feeders are red so hopefully if she can see a bit she might get used to them. And I’ve ordered red waterers
As she acts very shy now she is prone to get picked on I fear.
I feel I have to give her a chance to fit in and survive and I need to just toughen up whilst she does so but I can’t help feel sad.
I could dispatch her and feel I may have to if her life is not worth living ie: hiding under coop all day unless I get her out to eat and drink.
She did come out with the rest this morning so I keep getting a glimmer of hope but I fear it is wishful thinking she is currently wal look my up and down the fence line miles from the flock and under trees.

My blind chicken i have had over a year. He needs to eat out of deeper food trays but its possible. He drinks water no problem from a deep tub type dish. Grass if available he has learned to eat too. I also hand feed him supplements when necessary because he mainly eats corn.

Ammonia, vitamin A overdose, staring at the sun have been a few theories as to how my chickens have gone blind. But could be genetic too, but its sad, sorry to hear it. Some of the plant healers have suggested try honey in the eyes diluted, but i have never tried it. It's sort of a folk legend that honey may cure it, because people claimed it. But i never tried it due to ants mainly, but it wouldnt hurt to try.

Edit: maybe there is something to it, i may try it on my blind one but he has been blind over a year.

 

[TJAnonymous]

Yesterday morning I was feeding and noticed one of my Black Australorps sitting in a nesting box. She caught my eye because HER eye looked funny. Instead of being solid black where you can't really distinguish the pupil from the iris, hers almost looked reptilian. I wish I'd had my camera to take a picture. I will try to get one today.... I waived my hand next to her face and she reacted so I don't think she is blind, at least not yet.... But it definitely looks weird.

 

[HeatherKellyB]

This has been on my mind ever since reading this thread. I recently noticed one of my CCL hens has really wild looking eyes. I don't typically shine my headlamp on my flocks but for some reason I did recently and her eyes had a fiery look. It caught me so off guard that I checked in the daylight the next day and her eyes look so strange. She has this red coloring along the outer edge of her iris. After this post, I started thinking about how "Freddie" has been a big ~ B ~ to her flock recently. I'm beginning to wonder if she got a peck right on the top of her head and has suffered some trauma. Whenever I pick her up, she acts crazy and kind of stiffens up a bit like a dog that's not used to being held (not sickly and she's able to move but fearful). I don't think she sees well, at least out of one of her eyes although her eyes are not cloudy or anything (maybe she's just a wacky girl). It's just odd that it's another CCL but maybe it's just a coincidence since it's a popular breed. I'm finding conflicting information about this breed having a vaulted skull, but I don't think they're supposed to have that, although a few do due to some breeders. Freddie doesn't look exactly like my other CCL hen and I even thought she was a cockerel for quite some time after she hatched because of her facial markings/coloring. I can't remember if her skull was vaulted or not. I'll have to feel it in the morning. Freddie doesn't act sick in any way. She has resumed laying in the past week & a half. She just acts like a jerk to her flock.
@jaywin have you noticed anything like that with your hen? Did her blindness happen suddenly, over a short time, or a long time period? Or did she just act like she was unable to see one day? I remember eggcessive mentioning another thread about your hen. I'll have to find it in the morning. I apologize for my rambling but this thread has been on my mind all day. One more question, how old is your hen? Freddie is 17 months old (almost a year and a half).

 

[jaywin]

Hi thank you so much for your reply and concern. She is two years old, almost and it came in over about a week I think. She seemed to be ok that first week - managing to eat and drink but not moving much.
Yesterday evening I got everything ready to dispatch her as I felt she’d had an awful day but then when I went to get her she’d moved from one area to another - quite a distance and when I put her in the coop, in a box for comfort, went back five mins later and she’d got up high on a perch! Each time I get these glimmers of hope I think she is going to make it.
It’s a roller coaster!

 

[jaywin]

In your previous thread, it may be light in the pictures, but is there any milky material covering her eyes? Is there any ammonia odor inside the coop, and do you have a well ventilated coop, especially above their roosts?

I would try to keep her with the flock, and not remove her, unless she is being hurt by the others. If you separate her or bring her elsewhere, she may get picked on more by the others. Sorry about your hen, but blind chicken may live a decent life in a familiar environment. You may have to make adjustments for her though, making sure that she can get in and out of the coop.

Hi
Thank you your reply
I don’t think it is ammonia as I clean out everyday and they have sawdust under the roost to absorb the poop over night. I think the coop is ventilated well
Now she is back with the flock I’ll give her a chance again today and keep an eye on her.

In your previous thread, it may be light in the pictures, but is there any milky material covering her eyes? Is there any ammonia odor inside the coop, and do you have a well ventilated coop, especially above their roosts?

I would try to keep her with the flock, and not remove her, unless she is being hurt by the others. If you separate her or bring her elsewhere, she may get picked on more by the others. Sorry about your hen, but blind chicken may live a decent life in a familiar environment. You may have to make adjustments for her though, making sure that she can get in and out of the coop.

hi
Thank you for your reply.
I still can’t see anything in her eye to be honest and I don’t think it’s ammonia as I muck out everyday and they have shavings under the roosts. to absorb poop over night. The coop is well ventilated as well. If is a mystery

 

[jaywin]

My blind chicken i have had over a year. He needs to eat out of deeper food trays but its possible. He drinks water no problem from a deep tub type dish. Grass if available he has learned to eat too. I also hand feed him supplements when necessary because he mainly eats corn.

Ammonia, vitamin A overdose, staring at the sun have been a few theories as to how my chickens have gone blind. But could be genetic too, but its sad, sorry to hear it. Some of the plant healers have suggested try honey in the eyes diluted, but i have never tried it. It's sort of a folk legend that honey may cure it, because people claimed it. But i never tried it due to ants mainly, but it wouldnt hurt to try.

Edit: maybe there is something to it, i may try it on my blind one but he has been blind over a year.
View attachment 2949592

Thank you so much for this I will give it a try. She has had antibiotic eye cream with no result but I’ll try anything!
If she would only ‘find’ the feeders etc I would feel better but I’m not sure she is going to. I plan to give it until the weekend

 

[HeatherKellyB]

Any chance you're able to take her away from the flock on her own and feed her twice a day? Of course she'll need to drink too and she should be hydrated before she eats. That way you can make sure she's eating at least twice a day and hopefully in between from their flock feeders. This will give you both more time to figure out if things are going to work for her and you.

 

[HeatherKellyB]

I found your other thread. Any chance you could get a picture of her in a well lit area? I'm curious about any similarities between my hen and yours. It's a little more difficult to see her eye clearly in the dark pictures. I realize this isn't easy to do as I don't have a picture of Freddie's eyes