Putting down your pea?

[Trefoil]

Do they have cataracs? Are their eyes cloudy or clear? Aside from the general "genetics" do you know what is causing the blindness? If they were born that way I would be more apt to suspect genetics, but it doesn't sound like they were. I don't have what it takes to put a bird down either, just can't do it.

 

[thndrdancr]

Their eyes are clear as far as I can see but there is a gene that causes it. According to everything I have read on it.

 

[Trefoil]

I was wondering if anyone knew how that gene caused blindness?

 

[DylansMom]

I was wondering if anyone knew how that gene caused blindness?

I don't know how it causes it, but I have been hearing about the "Cameo Death Gene" pretty much since I got my first Cameo almost 20 years ago. Supposedly the Cameos often went blind and often dropped dead for no apparent reason, so it was assumed to be linked to the Cameo color. Purples never exhibited it and Peaches have shown a tendency to blindness, apparently because the color is derived from Cameo. These days it is supposed to have been mostly bred out of the Cameos and breeders are working on eliminating it rom Peach lines as well, but I still hear about it quite often.

 

[thndrdancr]

Also it usually doesn't manifest until the bird is over one year old, usually between 1 and 2 years of age, so sometimes the young are sold before a breeder knows about it. I got mine from a friend who always kept them penned, she had no idea the hen was blind. She just thought she was an unusually calm bird, and she had no problem getting around as I am pretty sure the hen had sight to begin with as she went in and out of the coop and jumped on boxes, etc which she has never done here.