Poor little baby...

[K de]

My huge Goldendoodle, Alfie, has a problem--he loves the chickens. I mean, really loves them. He follows them around, lets them follow him, lays down and stares at them, and picks them up and takes them to his bed for cuddling. Well, (you saw this coming), I found one of my six week old Blue Ameraucanas laying in the grass this weekend. Poor little thing was obviously hot (the chickens usually stay in the shady side of the property under the canopy of trees, but poor Kate was laying in the hot sun) and she was obviously in some kind of shock. Alfie (okay, I don't have video surveillance, but I can piece together enough of the story to figure it out) obviously spent some time "loving" poor little Kate. When I picked her up she was alive, but very still. I brought her in the house to assess her condition...

Alfie had licked all the feathers off her back (she was still wet when I was holding her), and he had obviously licked her face because her little light comb was all red. I set up a hospital brooder with soft t-shirts, water, food, and a red light, gave her four droppers of water on her beak (which she drank), and tried to leave her alone (although I probably checked on her 20 times throughout the night). In the morning I made her a special breakfast of egg yolk, chick food, nonfat plain yogurt, and a little bit of honey. She ate a lot of it off my finger although she wasn't eating it out of the dish herself. She was still quiet, but when I would check on her throughout the morning she would stand up when she saw me, which was an improvement.

I was worried about keeping her separated from her sisters because I didn't know if they would welcome her back after too long, so I bought small mealworms at the feed store and took her outside that evening to see if she would join in the fun. I put her near her pen, called her sisters, and tossed some worms--success! They ran around and you wouldn't even know she had been injured or separated. Before I knew it they had jumped back into their pen and Kate was eating like nothing was wrong.

Then today...

When I was outside I picked her up to see how her back looked between her wings (much better--just featherless), and I noticed her right eye has a problem. It is not puffy, oozy, crusty, or anything else resembling sickness, but her whole eye looks cloudy. It looks like that eye has a cataract over it. It does not look like any pictures I've seen of Marek's disease--it actually looks like a human cataract. I've noticed for the past few days she is with her sisters sometimes, but sometimes she's been alone near her pen or in little hidey-places. Maybe she is not seeing well and feeling nervous?

Here is my question: If she is eating and drinking, and if she is wandering around like the happy chicken she should be, could she still live a normal, happy life? Or does it sound like there is something more? Should I worry? If her eye doesn't look puffy or leaky, do you think there is anything I can do to improve the cloudiness? Vitamins? Medicine? I have a hunch it's not going to get better--but if it is not contagious or a sign of other sickness, I'd be okay. If there's no puffiness or leaky/crustiness, is medicine needed? Do chickens get cataracts? Can an injury cause a cloudy eye? Can a cloudy eye clear up over time? I hope she can still see out of that eye...I haven't had a problem like this before so I'd appreciate any wisdom...

(Sorry for the long post--I've never been good at "in a nutshell...")

 

[CMV]

Here is my question: If she is eating and drinking, and if she is wandering around like the happy chicken she should be, could she still live a normal, happy life? Or does it sound like there is something more? Should I worry? If her eye doesn't look puffy or leaky, do you think there is anything I can do to improve the cloudiness? Vitamins? Medicine? I have a hunch it's not going to get better--but if it is not contagious or a sign of other sickness, I'd be okay. If there's no puffiness or leaky/crustiness, is medicine needed? Do chickens get cataracts? Can an injury cause a cloudy eye? Can a cloudy eye clear up over time?

Yes. No. Of course you are going to worry regardless of what I say. No. Can't hurt. Isn't indicated. No. Yes. Yes. Unlikely.

You need to keep the dog away from the birds. This is just the first incident, but there will be more if you don't take steps to keep them apart.

The injured eye was likely licked several times and the cornea was abraded. It was abraded severely enough that the eye is forming a cataract in response to the injury. The bird is likely going to be pretty blind in that eye. It may retain some vision, but not much, and that is only going to decrease over time.

Sorry for your situation. Good luck.

 

[K de]

Thank you so much for your input! And I know that goofy dog needs to stay away...Alfie has lived with my nine chickens all his life (three years), and he hasn't bothered any of them since he was a puppy. Just to be sure, he stays in the house, but he's been so good about leaving them alone that I thought he knew better (silly me). The problem is their age--he wants nothing to do with my big chickens, but the babies are "stuffed animal size." Those are the ones he used to try and love before. I assumed he'd leave all the chickens alone now, not just the big ones!

So, I'll keep an eye on Kate to make sure her eye doesn't change for the worse--poor little thing. I think I'll add some vitamins...couldn't hurt...

Thank you again for your input and advice!