Hen suddenly went blind

[ceeceerod]

2 year old RIR went blind overnight and just moves her head back and forth pupils dialated but she is drinking water. PLEASE HELP!

 

[Rach123]

Hi there, this happened with my cockerel last month, i still can't figure out what it was. When i phoned my vet he said it could be neurological - like a stroke or something? It might be Mareks disease? Sorry not much help, :/
Hope your little hen gets better soon!

 

[ceeceerod]

what happened to your cockeral?

 

[Rach123]

He was completely fine apart from being blind, but unfortunately i had him PTS as i found he wasn't enjoying life and would get very stressed with noise, but he would have continued if i had the time to hand feed him every day.
Is your little hen any better today?

 

[ceeceerod]

No just the same how did you get rid of him?

 

[chooks4life]

Are you sure she's blind? Sounds like it but severe poisoning can present the same symptoms. If she's blind and it's happened overnight, I would suspect a tumor pressing on the optical nerve, or severe poisoning/ toxicity. Kinda like some collie or collie mix dogs after consuming horse wormer of the Ivermectin family, even a tiny amount can lead to coma, blindness, paralysis, etc. And of course death is common.

I haven't had that exact problem you describe with your bird, but did have some Isabrown layers who showed neurological symptoms after a certain age. It appears to be hereditary. They were raised to POL by the breeder before I got them. After two years they self destructed. Neurological symptoms. Slow, but after months they died. They didn't go blind but did lose the ability to accurately pick up food or water or gauge how far away it was. I'm guessing it was an inherited time-bomb inability to absorb or synthesize something crucial to neurological function. I have heard of other hens from that breed also inexplicably short circuiting after a certain age. It doesn't matter what diet they're on. Anyway, best wishes, hope you find out what it is.

 

[ceeceerod]

she might be poisoned but i have other hens and they are fine. I have her separated and she is also bobbng her head back and forth in a rhythmic fashion and then her head slowly touches the ground and then she picks it back up again oh its sad to watch

 

[Rach123]

A friend 'dispatched' of him for me , shame to hear she hasn't improved.

 

[chooks4life]

Most of my toxicity cases were just one chook.

Just because the others are fine doesn't mean she's not poisoned, it only means you aren't likely to be the reason she's poisoned. If they're all poisoned it's caused by something in their environment/feed/water which you would be responsible for. If it's an isolated case, she could have gotten into something no other chook found. Charcoal can save even cases that are so far gone they're frothing at the mouth and spasming/fitting. Her symptoms sound like severe poisoning to me, almost nothing else causes those exact symptoms, though the cause of the poisoning could be anything. Best wishes. She doesn't sound like she'll get better without help.

 

[loratorrance]

I have a hen that went blind too about 2 wrrks ago. She keeps her eyes closed most of the time but when they are open her euyes look cloudy. She seems to know where she to go to eat ad drink but she sits in the coop in the same place most the time. When I got hime from work yesterday she was outside but staying against the barn. I hope yours gets better!!