help! suddenly blind chicken: updated, she didn't make it

[JerseyHen]

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It is blind in both eyes (or at least there is no reaction to light). Both eyes appear perfectly normal though, no worms, no change in color, no difference in pupil size, just not reactive to light. Today I saw some hippus (repeated rapid dilation and constriction) and the bird appeared to flinch once or twice, but then it went back to missing the food dish.

 

[JerseyHen]

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Concussion or poisoning was my original thought, but I am not sure if she injured her head or not. It is possible as they were outside all day.

 

[JerseyHen]

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I didn't see any, but I will check her again in better light. Those are some tiny little worms. How would I get rid of those if I find them? Do they may an opthalmic antihelminthic or some such thing?

 

[dawg53]

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I didn't see any, but I will check her again in better light. Those are some tiny little worms. How would I get rid of those if I find them? Do they may an opthalmic antihelminthic or some such thing?

Mix equal quantity of valbazen and water, flush the eyes with the mixture. Then orally dose your bird 1/2cc valbazen, repeat 10 days later.

 

[JerseyHen]

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I didn't see any, but I will check her again in better light. Those are some tiny little worms. How would I get rid of those if I find them? Do they may an opthalmic antihelminthic or some such thing?

Mix equal quantity of valbazen and water, flush the eyes with the mixture. Then orally dose your bird 1/2cc valbazen, repeat 10 days later.

Thanks! Well, she is still not seeing, but she is finding her food and water and seemed to enjoy a walk on the grass today. She seems to be seeing shadows, but is not able to really target her food or roost. I will give her a couple days to decide if she is improving or not.

 

[Suzie]

Jerseyhen

Just to say that I have a chicken with the same symptoms - she lost her vision 2 months ago and had problems with walking - probably because she couldn't see - she has improved tremendously - she comes to her water and feed dishes whenever I tap them - she goes outside now and walks for a while and has a good quality of life - I wrote on here about her and it was suggested that she had ingested something toxic - that did fit in with her routine - lots of toadstools and suspect mushrooms around at the time - she has had intensive care - baths in warm water - good food, leg physiotherapy and my time... I am lucky in that I have a lot of time to be able to attend to her needs - I perhaps would have had to euthanase if I couldn't have dedicated the time she needed - she is one very special girl to me and always has been - others would probably not have been so lucky!

Each one of ours is so very individual - Mattie was on antibiotics for some while - I can't even say if she will get back to normal and I don't know for sure what actually caused such a sudden loss of function - her blindness was very sudden - I wish you well with yours - wish I could be more helpful - good luck!

Suzie

 

[JerseyHen]

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Thanks for the support, it helps to hear from someone who has/is going through the same thing. HennyPenny's blindness happened over a matter of hours, so fast. Today she came in from her walk (I still have her in the house for recovery purposes and so I can monitor food/water/poo) and ate a huge amount of food, in fact, she filled her crop then did that hen purring thing that they do, then cuddled down to sleep. I am hopeful that she will at least be able to be back with the flock with a bit of additional attention to her needs. I am an adopter of the disabled and abandoned, so why not a blind chicken? As long as she is healthy, noncontagious, and blind. Her 26 flockmates seem fine, so I think it was probably toxin or trauma, but you can't be too careful can you? I hope yours continues to recouperate (keep me posted). I am so grateful for all the posts offering help and advice on here. It has made raising chickens a do-able thing (this is my first flock).

 

[JerseyHen]

She stopped eating and drinking yesterday and started having seizures. She also developed a greenish diarrhea that was not malodorous. She pulled through 3 seizures and then about 10 minutes ago she had a very violent seizure and passed. It is so sad to lose an animal. She was one of my DD favorites because she was so friendly and is very upset (she witnessed the last seizure).

What causes blindness, seizures, diarrhea, death, in about 5 days from the onset of the disease? She did not have changes in her eye's appearance, nor did she end up in the one leg forward one back characteristic of Marek's, She had no discharge from eyes or nose, No evidence of worms, no apparent injury. I just hope it wasn't something contagious, but at least the flock has been vaccinated for Marek's.

 

[kari_dawn]

It sounds like poison to me...

 

[seminolewind]

She stopped eating and drinking yesterday and started having seizures. She also developed a greenish diarrhea that was not malodorous. She pulled through 3 seizures and then about 10 minutes ago she had a very violent seizure and passed. It is so sad to lose an animal. She was one of my DD favorites because she was so friendly and is very upset (she witnessed the last seizure).

What causes blindness, seizures, diarrhea, death, in about 5 days from the onset of the disease? She did not have changes in her eye's appearance, nor did she end up in the one leg forward one back characteristic of Marek's, She had no discharge from eyes or nose, No evidence of worms, no apparent injury. I just hope it wasn't something contagious, but at least the flock has been vaccinated for Marek's.

I would have to say that It's hard to decide if it's Marek's. It sortof sounds more like a brain tumor to me, causing sight problems, seizures, etc. If your birds are all vaccinated, chances are even greater that it's not Marek's-I'm not saying it can't be, but the possibility is even smaller. So I would be looking at other possibilities, like a tumor or poison, etc.

If it's contagious, other birds in your flock would have gotten it. Hopefully it's only one.