hen suddenly went blind; both eyes dilated; link to photos

[Frannabelle]

I posted about a week ago also about my bantam hen suddenly going blind. Sounds like the same exact thing is happening to my girl. She has no injury and does not have any other symptoms of being ill. The only thing she had was a mild case of bumblefoot, which has since cleared up and her feet are fine now. All the others in my flock are fine as well.
My sister and I wondered if it could be something she ate. I have nightshade in my yard, and have tried to pull out all I can find, but I'm wondering if she could have eaten the berries. Her eyes do not look like the Mareks pics I have seen either.
Can the nightshade cause this, anyone know?

 

[islandchicken]

Franabelle --

I do not have a specific answer regarding the nightshade, but was told that, in general, some plants can cause the problem. There seemed to be no improvement or reversal in the case of the ginger girl, so if it were a plant substance in her system, time was not lessening the side effect.

I am so surprised that, with cases of this among birds in a variety of locations, no one at a local agriculture department would know anything about this. And all hens. I hit a dead end locally with out ag folks. By the way, none of these birds are vaccinated; ferals that live freely. The ginger girl had already had a brood of chicks -- many who were seemingly picked off by mongoose. Someone suggested that contact with mongoose might be a factor. I really don't know. I know you don't have them where you are, and I am uncertain if your birds are kept contained or are free-range.

I did not have a necropsy done on the bird, largely because we really do not have the resources here to independently do the level of testing needed (toxicology, tissue, etc.). However, if anyone's local ag department does take an interest, perhaps some testing could be done on one of the birds -- preferably while the bird is still alive. Just a thought. I feel for you. I felt terrible having to put the bird down, and I had only worked with her for less than two full weeks.

Islandchicken

 

[islandchicken]

Please ignore this one; computer turned on me and posted #12 twice!

Islandchicken

 

[Frannabelle]

Islandchicken

Thanks for the reply. It is curious that it happens to chickens from all over. This particular hen has not been vaccinated either, and my flock does free range, although they are contained in my 1/2 acre back yard.
I'd love to hear from anyone else with this happening to them
She does seem to be doing OK though. I've actually been bringing her inside at night to make sure she eats, but noticed her today being able to find the feeder and doing well taking care of herself. At first I thought maybe her sight was coming back, but it's probably just that she is getting used to the blindness

 

[Frannabelle]

Sadly, had to put the little hen down today. She was not able to feed herself properly and was losing the weight over the last 2 weeks. I have been hand feeding her but that wasn't going to work long term.
I didn't want her to start suffering, so I made the decision to have her put to sleep.

 

[islandchicken]

Frannabelle --

So sad the poor little hen did not make it. I was hoping you would have a good outcome.


I am wondering if you have disposed of the body yet (where you can no longer get it)? If not, would it be possible for you to call your local agriculture department and ask if they would be interested in taking a look at her since this happened quite suddenly? I just think it is so odd that we are seeing this in a variety of places, but in hens who are free range and about the same age. Just a thought. I asked an avian wildlife vet who is experienced eye-related bird issues if she had ever heard of this, but she had not.

Islandbirder

 

[Frannabelle]

Quote:
HI Islandbirder,

I do still have her body. I have emailed Michigan State Dept of Poultry, explained my situation with my chicken and asked if they are interested. If I receive a reply, I will let you know!
Great idea.

 

[blythe7887]

I see these posts are from 2011, but figured I’d give it a shot. My Rosey has the same symptoms. Clear normal eyes that are dialated and she’s gone blind....
I noticed when after a couple of days she didn’t come for treats with the rest of the flock.
A little back story....we went away for 3 nights/2 days of camping (we have a great setup and can actually go away for 7 days if we have someone to collect eggs). Our neighbor came by to collect eggs while we were gone and on the second day found one of our pullets (6 months old) dead. He froze her for us and I could see no reason.
Now about 5 days later, Rosey (4years old) seems to have become blind and unable to find food or water. She lost a lot of weight but we’ve been force feeding her for the past 5 days.
Her eyes are dialated and have just barely started reacting to light. But she still can’t find her food or water ( she’s been in the house since we started force feeding here).
If just resting, she keeps her eyes closed.

3x she has started drinking while holding her and a bowel, but when holding pellets and tapping the bowl she just misses.

Did anyone figure out if it was poisoning?

Did anyone ever figure it out?

 

[alovingmum]

She has been having this problem for about a week. Someone saw her early on and thought she was having a neurological issue (which turned out to be her staring and listening because she did not know where she was). I have had her for the past five days and, aside from addressing the air sac issue, nothing has changed with the eye response or lack of eyesight.

One thing I noticed is, when I went to address the air sac swelling, there was a reddish pin mark on her crop. I wonder if she could have gotten pricked by one of the cassia trees or something else poisonous, or gotten stung. Whatever happened, the net effect is total blindness with dilated eyes. My concern is that, with tubing fluids and food, there is no real change in the eye issue. (She was very, very dehydrated when she came in, and I sub Qed her fluids for two days. I am now able to address her fluid and food needs via tubing.)

By the way, thanks for the great link on meal worm propagation. I have made some of the mistakes you mentioned (too much moisture), and may try again!!

there is always a cure in homeopathy. it is just finding the correct one. often choox that go blind overnight have mareks. does she have any swellings about her head at all? i would suggest hypericum if so. might like to try euphraysia for the blindness but depends on the eye (maybe see a vet and ask them where it is injured and then go to repertory to find a cure - best to see a homeopath if you're unsure yourself but hoemopathy is easy to research if you have the time. i haven't but i still do and have had great luck with it. my farm vet now leaves me to the remedies after he has diagnosed. sadly he is not a poultry vet but still has some great tips on diagnosis.

 

[alovingmum]

I see these posts are from 2011, but figured I’d give it a shot. My Rosey has the same symptoms. Clear normal eyes that are dialated and she’s gone blind....
I noticed when after a couple of days she didn’t come for treats with the rest of the flock.
A little back story....we went away for 3 nights/2 days of camping (we have a great setup and can actually go away for 7 days if we have someone to collect eggs). Our neighbor came by to collect eggs while we were gone and on the second day found one of our pullets (6 months old) dead. He froze her for us and I could see no reason.
Now about 5 days later, Rosey (4years old) seems to have become blind and unable to find food or water. She lost a lot of weight but we’ve been force feeding her for the past 5 days.
Her eyes are dialated and have just barely started reacting to light. But she still can’t find her food or water ( she’s been in the house since we started force feeding here).
If just resting, she keeps her eyes closed.

3x she has started drinking while holding her and a bowel, but when holding pellets and tapping the bowl she just misses.

Did anyone figure out if it was poisoning?

Did anyone ever figure it out?

sounds more and more like mareks disease to me. mareks can be lymphamatosis eg tumours and blindness. i had a chinese silky (they are apparently prone to mareks) go like this. if only i could have diagnosed sooner but was treating for botulism and other toxic elements. i don't like treating the cause but rather symptoms for chicken illnesses as i've found all my rescued choox seem to have different symptoms altho they may all fall ill at the same time. therer is one illness but many DNAs tocontend with. therein lies the solution. treat the symptoms as one would in homeopathy. hypericum really is a good homeopathic cure for mareks as it is mostly a nerve related dis-ease.