Precious..the blind Barred Rock hen

[vantain]

Today Precious weighs in at 7.27oz. I may have to stop weighing her, since it's been an upward climb in weight since day one, so no issues with eating and drinking. The next challenge will come this next week, when I let them out of the coop brooder and into their new run for the first time. Will be interesting to see how she navigates the outdoor run, after being cooped up in only the brooder...the only world she has known. She will have to learn a new area to spend time in, and how to get out of and back into the coop.

I did discover that she doesn't like bright sunlight at all. I had her outside a bit, just to see how she would react, and she wanted to stay in my shadow. Whenever the bright sun was in her eyes, she would act strange...basically closing her eyes with her mouth wide open. Maybe it was painful? Her irises do work, so I would think bright light shouldn't be an issue, but I don't know.

 

[chickenmom1918]

Awwww!! How sweet!! We have a special needs chicken too! Its not that much extra work, and it is rewarding! My little girl lives a full happy life comfortably. Ours is not blind, but has lots of mobility issues and stunted growth.

 

[Twizzler]

That’s a shame that feeding treats is difficult. It does sound like she’s photophobic, either because of pain, or even just fear. I have a dog slowly going blind and she reacts fearfully to lights, shadows, and even reflections. Maybe she would be better if brought out in low lighting such as dawn or dusk because she can slowly acclimate?

 

[Willawong Hill]

Perhaps she has some sort of iritis (eye inflammation) causing her blindness? That would make her sensitive to light. Not sure what the treatment would be in a chicken. People get steroid eye drops which helps.

 

[BugsToBirds]

Maybe you could put a stick or ramp that runs from the roost to the floor too? That way she can go up and down that and avoid crash landings

 

[vantain]

Maybe you could put a stick or ramp that runs from the roost to the floor too? That way she can go up and down that and avoid crash landings

Will have to try that soon, as the other seven are spending a lot of time on the big girl roost, and Precious can’t figure out where they are!

 

[vantain]

We let Precious spend some time outside again, with the others. She was more willing to peck at the ground a bit, but kept getting left behind the others. They were running all over the place, and Precious just can’t keep up. She did seem happy to be outside in the grass, and seemed more lively than usual.
I mentioned before that she didn’t seem to tolerate bright sunlight very well. Well, she seems to be doing better with that too. So, good progress.
I am finishing up their new run, and will be cutting the new pop door for them tomorrow. Then they can roam about their new 8x15 secured run, but in full view of the two older girls. Should be a fun day for all.

 

[vantain]

Today was a big day for Precious. We let the new girls explore their new, but still unfinished, run. They loved it! Precious had a hard time figuring out where everyone kept running off to, so she just did her own thing. The new run is 8x14.

I had to cut the hole in the coop for the new pop door, so I wanted them out. I also put in the poop board under the big girl roost, since all but Precious are already spending a lot of time up there.

I need to get a ramp installed soon, maybe tomorrow, to allow Precious to find her way up there. I just fear for her falling off. The poop board is 18” off the ground. Maybe I need to install a guard rail...ha ha.

Unfortunately, this evening, everyone is up there. They left Precious by herself, all alone on the chick roost down in the ground. You can’t see her in the right hand side under the poop board, but she is there. As soon as it is dark, I’m going to move the other seven down to the lower roost.

Oh, and they are on week five, and didn’t even sleep under the heater last night. It got down to 58 in the coop. So, I removed the heater today. Tonight it Is supposed to be 63. One thing about brooding in the coop is that they all seem to feather more quickly.

 

[Tre3hugger]

This is so awesome. I'm rooting for you precious!

 

[Lilokieescorter]

I have one particular Barred Rock hen named Precious. She is, we think, mostly blind. We got her from TSC with 3 other Rocks, one of which we named Paris, but is probably Perry. Everything was going well, but after a few days, I started noticing something was not right with Precious. She wasn't quite as active as the others, and often was found standing in a corner, staring at a wall. I also noticed that she walked very slowly, and would often walk into things. Through more observation, and some vision testing, it became obvious that she, at the very least, sees very poorly. We have observed her eating and drinking from the feeder and waterer, so she does not require any personal attention to help her eat. In fact, she is gaining weight just as quickly as the others in our new brooder. Her brooder mates consist of three other Barred Rocks, two RIR, and two Buff Orpingtons.

Precious is now 19 days old, and continues to grow. She is getting along with everyone, but doesn't always participate in all of their crazy antics in the brooder. The others are extremely active, flying everywhere, chasing each other, scratching through the bedding..etc. Precious can often be found near them, trying to be part of the activities, but often failing because she just can't see what they are doing. She does scratch in the bedding, she does manage to get into the little pan I setup for them with dirt for dust bathing, and I have seen her dust bathe in there herself.

I'm sharing this story, because I want to document her life. As a family, we decided against culling her, just because of her vision issues. She is precious in more than just a name. She deserves a chance at a good life, and that is something we want to give her.

We have a lot of work ahead of us, as we take this journey in caring for a special needs chicken. But, we are excited for her, as she is managing to do things.

Here she is as of a week ago. I will get an update picture in the next day or so.
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This made me tear up, thank you for giving Precious a chance I can't wait to see her journey as she grows!