Hen going blind in one eye

[HorseGirlAbby]

This isn’t exactly an emergency, as I don’t think there’s anything I can do, and she’s not in pain. Gidget is a five year old Easter Egger, a sassy little hen who likes to boss everyone around. She lives with seventeen other chickens in a nice house with a large run. They all eat the same food, all purpose poultry feed, and have free-choice oyster shell. She lays pretty green eggs three to four times a week, and has no problems. Except…she’s going blind. I noticed one of her eyes was cloudy about a week ago, but I dismissed it as worryitis. Fast forward to now, and it hasn’t gone away. In fact, I think it’s worse. She can still see well enough to jump onto the roost and nesting boxes, and doesn’t run into things, but I’m kinda worried about her in the long run. Does anyone have any half blind hens? Do they get around as well as normal hens? She’s basically a pet, and a favorite due to her gentleness. I want her to be able to live a long, happy life. Here are a few photos comparing her good (right) eye to her bad (left) one, hopefully you can clearly see the difference.
Good

Bad

I had the camera on selfie mode, and she was trying to peck herself on the screen She’s acting normal, just closing that eye a bit more. I think it may be sensitive to light. Any help is appreciated!

 

[Eggcessive]

She looks to have dilated pupils and the left one looks like a possible cataract. How is the odor in the coop? Do you notice an ammonia odor, or is the ventilation good? Cataracts can happen in chickens for a variety of issues. Most completely blind chickens can still see light and dark, and can find their way around in a familiar area, as long as food and water are in the same places.

 

[HorseGirlAbby]

She looks to have dilated pupils and the left one looks like a possible cataract. How is the odor in the coop? Do you notice an ammonia odor, or is the ventilation good? Cataracts can happen in chickens for a variety of issues. Most completely blind chickens can still see light and dark, and can find their way around in a familiar area, as long as food and water are in the same places.

The ventilation is good, about 27 square feet, and the air circulates well. There’s no ammonia odor, except maybe under the roost, which probably needs to be cleaned out again. She’s the only hen having problems, and so far the others aren’t picking on her. What would dilated pupils mean? It was pretty dark in there, that was early this morning.

 

[Eggcessive]

The pupils normally dilate (get bigger) to let in more light, such as in dark room, so they can see. Normally a light shined into the eye would make the pupil become smaller or constrict (react to light) but not in blindness. Make sure that she is getting a balanced chicken feed, since a vitamin A deficiency can cause blindness and cataracts in chickens.

 

[HorseGirlAbby]

Ah, that makes sense. I took her out in the sun, and her pupils got smaller, pretty much as normal. She’s having a harder time getting around now, though. She can still track things in front of her face, and her depth perception is okay, but she’s been running into things sometimes. She’s still laying eggs, and can get in and out of the nest boxes just fine. I guess we’ll just take it day by day, and hopefully she can adjust slowly.

 

[HorseGirlAbby]

Gidget’s blindness has progressed a lot, and she’s now almost totally blind. She’s still managing to get on the roost and nesting boxes, and finds the food and water okay. She does run into things, just slightly, and gets scared when I pick her up. She somehow can tell the chickens apart, though, and knows when she can chase them around. She goes out in the run often, though I think she finds her way back in by running into the ramp. Here’s a couple photos of her bad eye and what was her good eye.
Bad:

“Good”:

I’ve noticed her bad eye seems to be losing color as well, and it looks lighter than the other one.

 

[Eggcessive]

What are you feeding her? Could you try some chick vitamins that contain vitamin A for a few weeks to see if that makes any difference? Sorry that she has become more blind, but it sounds like she is getting along okay at the moment. I hope that she continues to be a little fighter.

 

[HorseGirlAbby]

What are you feeding her? Could you try some chick vitamins that contain vitamin A for a few weeks to see if that makes any difference? Sorry that she has become more blind, but it sounds like she is getting along okay at the moment. I hope that she continues to be a little fighter.

She’s getting the same feed, all-flock feed from our local farm store, along with oyster shell and some mulberries or apricots occasionally. I’ll try to find some vitamins, but they’re not selling much chick stuff now, so it might be tough. She’s definitely getting along all right, and seems even sassier now than when she could see.

 

[Perris]

I had a partially sighted chicken, and developed some tactics for helping her. You may find the article I wrote about it useful if your hen's blindness progresses to her having difficulty finding food.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/raising-a-blind-or-partially-sighted-chicken.75986/

 

[Eggcessive]

Beef liver or tuna has plenty of vitamin A. A small bit daily could be good as long as she is getting mostly chicken feed. Also here is a poultry vitamin that has A, other vitamins, and probiotics without unneeded electrolytes:
https://www.chewy.com/rooster-boost...bRcrwdCMcHYH6_iclxOqwNT7bx9fKz-BoCR0kQAvD_BwE