- Jul 26, 2012
- 10
- 0
- 22
Hello! I have a flock of 16. We have 4 Rhode Island Reds, 3 New Hampshire Reds, 3 Plymouth Rock, 3 Austrolorps, and 3 Leghorns. They are just over 10 weeks old. I raised 50 day old chicks. My aunt and cousin each have some of the other 50. We split them at about 7 weeks. I'm excited to talk and learn a lot from BYC, but I have a concern I would like some input on. When we had the 50, my kids and I picked out which chickens we would keep for ourselves.
One of the Rhode Island Reds was our favorite. It was somewhat smaller than the rest, and not hard to catch as it got older. We named her "Speck" because she had a black speck on her head. Once the feathers started coming in, the speck obviously went away, but the name stuck. Speck was usually by herself, and not as active as the others. She wasn't too much smaller, so I just assumed she was at the bottom of the pecking order, and layed low. After separating my 16, we moved them into a larger run and house. That's when I noticed Speck not growing as quick. Upon further examination, I saw that she had different looking eyes. They don't show color like the other chickens, and have a cloudiness. She does seem to be sensitive to light, in that she closes her eyes a lot. Because I realized she wasn't finding food as well in the larger area, I knew she was having issues seeing. But when she ate at the feeder, other hens were not letting her eat. Even getting their head under hers and lifting it out of the feeder. She would chirp and leave the feeder. So now I'm struggling with whether her eye was injured by pecking or if I'm dealing with something more serious. I have read and research a lot about Marek's and can't say for sure my chicks were vaccinated. I asked the farm/feed store if their hatchery did that, and they weren't sure, but said they didn't think so. (high school/college age workers were giving me answers)
My 7 year old son has taken it upon himself to make sure this chicken eats and drinks throughout the day. I do feel she has some vision because she moves about the run, and makes it out of the house and down the ramp each morning, and outside the run occasionally when the flock heads out. Most of the time, she is close to the house/run area. I've noticed when it starts getting dark, she will roost way earlier than the others, as if, darkness comes on her sooner. So she usually has to be moved, by diligent son again, to her personal 5 inch roost we made for her, because she did not ever offer to jump to the 24 in roost, and tried roosting on very thin ledge that was too narrow for her feet.
So even though this seems like a lot of work for my son, he is in love with this chicken. He loves looking after her and is convinced the others were just mean to her. I need to add, my son has been peck in EACH eye once. After the first time, I could not believe he got close enough to let it happen again, but he and I were cleaning out their bedding and I did notice there were 2 chickens oddly bold around him and jumping on the roosting boards to get closer to his face.
Bottom line, I'm torn. Don't know if we are dealing with disease or chickens who peck eyeballs. Out of the 50, I only lost one chick. It would never drink water from the get go, and died within the first 48 hours. Speck also eats out of our hands, but has to have her beak pushed in the food before she gets it. She moves her head from side to side rather quickly when we are putting it up there as if she can see it but can't focus on it. Sometimes it makes me think she sees out of one eye better than the other.
I'm so sorry for this long opening thread! I am just trying to give all the information I have in order to get the best answers or tips. I don't want to infect my whole flock, but now after it being almost 3 weeks since we noticed the 'blindness' I figure I've already done so. What else do I need to look for if it's a disease of some sort? Do you think it's Marek's, or another eye disease? I've been known to be anally clean about their bedding, water, and such, but could that just be keeping Marek's more controlled? What may my others birds start showing if it's a disease? I just don't know what else to look for to further diagnose, or even good signs to eliminate worries or fears. Any, all, and lots of input would be appreciated. I plan on using this site a lot and will hopefully be able to add to the advice giving some day, but need some right now. Thank you for your time and patience while reading this, since, if you made it this far.......you had to use some!
One of the Rhode Island Reds was our favorite. It was somewhat smaller than the rest, and not hard to catch as it got older. We named her "Speck" because she had a black speck on her head. Once the feathers started coming in, the speck obviously went away, but the name stuck. Speck was usually by herself, and not as active as the others. She wasn't too much smaller, so I just assumed she was at the bottom of the pecking order, and layed low. After separating my 16, we moved them into a larger run and house. That's when I noticed Speck not growing as quick. Upon further examination, I saw that she had different looking eyes. They don't show color like the other chickens, and have a cloudiness. She does seem to be sensitive to light, in that she closes her eyes a lot. Because I realized she wasn't finding food as well in the larger area, I knew she was having issues seeing. But when she ate at the feeder, other hens were not letting her eat. Even getting their head under hers and lifting it out of the feeder. She would chirp and leave the feeder. So now I'm struggling with whether her eye was injured by pecking or if I'm dealing with something more serious. I have read and research a lot about Marek's and can't say for sure my chicks were vaccinated. I asked the farm/feed store if their hatchery did that, and they weren't sure, but said they didn't think so. (high school/college age workers were giving me answers)
My 7 year old son has taken it upon himself to make sure this chicken eats and drinks throughout the day. I do feel she has some vision because she moves about the run, and makes it out of the house and down the ramp each morning, and outside the run occasionally when the flock heads out. Most of the time, she is close to the house/run area. I've noticed when it starts getting dark, she will roost way earlier than the others, as if, darkness comes on her sooner. So she usually has to be moved, by diligent son again, to her personal 5 inch roost we made for her, because she did not ever offer to jump to the 24 in roost, and tried roosting on very thin ledge that was too narrow for her feet.
So even though this seems like a lot of work for my son, he is in love with this chicken. He loves looking after her and is convinced the others were just mean to her. I need to add, my son has been peck in EACH eye once. After the first time, I could not believe he got close enough to let it happen again, but he and I were cleaning out their bedding and I did notice there were 2 chickens oddly bold around him and jumping on the roosting boards to get closer to his face.
Bottom line, I'm torn. Don't know if we are dealing with disease or chickens who peck eyeballs. Out of the 50, I only lost one chick. It would never drink water from the get go, and died within the first 48 hours. Speck also eats out of our hands, but has to have her beak pushed in the food before she gets it. She moves her head from side to side rather quickly when we are putting it up there as if she can see it but can't focus on it. Sometimes it makes me think she sees out of one eye better than the other.
I'm so sorry for this long opening thread! I am just trying to give all the information I have in order to get the best answers or tips. I don't want to infect my whole flock, but now after it being almost 3 weeks since we noticed the 'blindness' I figure I've already done so. What else do I need to look for if it's a disease of some sort? Do you think it's Marek's, or another eye disease? I've been known to be anally clean about their bedding, water, and such, but could that just be keeping Marek's more controlled? What may my others birds start showing if it's a disease? I just don't know what else to look for to further diagnose, or even good signs to eliminate worries or fears. Any, all, and lots of input would be appreciated. I plan on using this site a lot and will hopefully be able to add to the advice giving some day, but need some right now. Thank you for your time and patience while reading this, since, if you made it this far.......you had to use some!
I wish you luck!!
from Ohio. So glad to have you aboard. Good luck. 
