Precious..the blind Barred Rock hen

[Myrshine]

She does sometimes, but usually walks into things. She high steps with her feet, which is funny to watch.

Mine turns in circles and her head off to the side as if she’s “dizzy” she’s always been that way, not sure what it is. I thought it was due to her blindness, but I’m think brain damage. She’s happy and healthy now even with those problems!

 

[Waves]

I had an old blind chicken and she was a little cutie. she stumbled on everything and she could eat only from my hand..
these thing breach in heart

I love Precious, she's such a strong and cute fighter!!!!!!!

 

[Chris Lesley]

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.
View attachment 2134645

She is truly precious! So happy she found you! Looking forward to more stories as she grows up!

 

[vantain]

Today, Precious ate out of my hand! I had some scrambled egg I was using to help one of my older hens, whose not feeling well this morning. Thought I would try giving some to the chicks as a little snack. Precious seemed to understand today, that I was trying to give her something, and she was able to peck at the piece I was holding. She missed a few times, but once she hit it just right, she repeatedly hit it again and again, getting small bites at a time. She was "eggcited"...ha ha...

I'm excited for her, as this is a new chapter in dealing with treats. Up till now, she was always missing out, because she didn't understand what I was trying to give her.

 

[chelseachook]

Today, Precious ate out of my hand! I had some scrambled egg I was using to help one of my older hens, whose not feeling well this morning. Thought I would try giving some to the chicks as a little snack. Precious seemed to understand today, that I was trying to give her something, and she was able to peck at the piece I was holding. She missed a few times, but once she hit it just right, she repeatedly hit it again and again, getting small bites at a time. She was "eggcited"...ha ha...

I'm excited for her, as this is a new chapter in dealing with treats. Up till now, she was always missing out, because she didn't understand what I was trying to give her.

Usually they rely on their mother making a special clucking noise to tell them that ''dinner is ready''. I was going to suggest you play a recording of the noise on your phone, but it sounds like Precious has it all figured out. What a smart little chick!

 

[WhoDatChick]

Usually they rely on their mother making a special clucking noise to tell them that ''dinner is ready''. I was going to suggest you play a recording of the noise on your phone, but it sounds like Precious has it all figured out. What a smart little chick!

You can also do it yourself... I will do it with my new chicks and use my finger like a beak and “peck” at the food going ... buk,buk,buk,buk... I will also do it to get them to come to me... they come running every time .. Precious may be a little old for this.. I don’t know...

 

[vantain]

This afternoon, I introduced the horizontal nipple waterer to them. I’d really like them to all use this, since it is also a heated version that has worked out extremely well in very cold Minnesota winters well below zero. That said, I knew this was going to be a problem for Precious, so I figured it best to try training her to use it if possible. It would solve issues I see going into winter again here. It’s also such a cleaner watering solution.

Most of the other chicks did pretty well getting used to the nipples. I think they found it fun to peck and get water, so they all joined in on the fun. I spent a little one-on-one time with Precious, tapping at the nipple, and she got a few drops on her beak. It seemed to make her more curious, and she kept pecking at it. I think I have mentioned this before, but I am still unsure of just how blind she is. She can see light, as I can get her to follow a laser pointer. And, I do believe she can see objects, but they must be extremely blurry to her. She does walk into things quite often, and pecks at other chickens heads in the feeder. The others are learning to not stick their heads in front of Precious when she is eating!

In any case, Precious is persistent. Once she discovered that water comes from these nipples, she used her beak to explore the bucket, till she found the nipple sticking out the side. Then she tapped at the nipple and, voila..she got a water treat. She ended up spending a few minutes hunting and pecking at the waterer. I truly hope she can manage this. I won’t be taking away the fount waterer until I’m sure she has this waterer all figured out.

Here she is at the waterer...

 

[vantain]

While Precious does love the new run, she is very confused when I put them back into the coop at night. She walks into walls, and just can’t seem to figure out where she is. She acts very frustrated. She was getting up to the roost just fine before I finally got them out into their run. But since then, the confusion of the coop layout versus outside, seems to throw her off. She cries in frustration till I put her up on the roost. I’m sure this will pass eventually, once she figures out the routine of both places.

It’s also possible that any vision she has is much better in daylight. Maybe the dimness of the coop in the evening throws her off. When they were in the coop all the time, they went to bed earlier, while it was still quite light out. It may also explain why Precious seems to handle being out in the run all day. More light may give her more shadows and contrast that help her figure out what things are? I don’t know...

 

[Waves]

You can also do it yourself... I will do it with my new chicks and use my finger like a beak and “peck” at the food going ... buk,buk,buk,buk... I will also do it to get them to come to me... they come running every time .. Precious may be a little old for this.. I don’t know...

I Did it with my first 7 months chickens!
I brought their food for a while saying "ragazzeeeeeee, (girls in italian) ciú ciú ciú ciú" and then they follwed me every time.
Even now my 7yy old hen remembers the mean inglese of ciú ciú ciú ciú

 

[Twizzler]

While Precious does love the new run, she is very confused when I put them back into the coop at night. She walks into walls, and just can’t seem to figure out where she is. She acts very frustrated. She was getting up to the roost just fine before I finally got them out into their run. But since then, the confusion of the coop layout versus outside, seems to throw her off. She cries in frustration till I put her up on the roost. I’m sure this will pass eventually, once she figures out the routine of both places.

It’s also possible that any vision she has is much better in daylight. Maybe the dimness of the coop in the evening throws her off. When they were in the coop all the time, they went to bed earlier, while it was still quite light out. It may also explain why Precious seems to handle being out in the run all day. More light may give her more shadows and contrast that help her figure out what things are? I don’t know...

Maybe something sound based would work? A bell perhaps on the roost so she can hear the others when they get up there? Probably not all that feasible but it was the first thought that came to mind. The other is that there are super cheap copper led light strands that are battery operated. They can have built in timers, so maybe you can finagle it so it wraps around the roost bar and turns off shortly after dusk? You’d have to play around with the timing of when to first turn it on so it doesn’t stay on all night, but they’re super cheap so it’s not a huge loss if it gets ruined by poop. I can’t think of anything else really