Putting Lil'Bit to bed

[gritsar]

Lil'Bit is my tiny half blind hen. Because of her blindness I have to do a few things for her well-being and safety.
I keep an eye on her during the day to make sure she doesn't wander too far from the flock and the rooster's protection. If she does, I locate the flock and carry her to them. I carry her out of the coop in the mornings because she won't step down out of the coop by herself, and I put her on the roost at night. I go out a few minutes before the others are ready to go in and put Lil'Bit in the same spot on the same roost every night.
Today I'm ashamed to admit my patience has been short and because of the rain I haven't spent much time outside with the chooks.
Tonight I was late to go out to the coop to lock them up. I found Lil'Bit standing outside by the coop door and she came running when she saw me. I took her inside and set her down on the first empty spot on the roost I saw. She made a noise and half fell/half jumped off the roost. I put her back up. Again the noise and the fall off the roost. And again.
Losing patience I held her in my arms while I tried to figure out what the problem was. Aha! I moved the hen that was in Lil'Bit's usual spot to another spot and put Lil'Bit in her place. She made a little noise (I swear it was "thank you!") and was content.
Spoiled chicken!

 

[JHaller]

How do you determine partial blindness? I'm wondering about one of my hens, who can't find her way out of the pen, even when the others lead the way. She also gets very wrapped in foraging and then panics when the other birds wander off.

I guess any animal can have a perception problem, but do have any hints on identifying blindness?

Thanks,

Judith

 

[JanieMarie]

Rest assured it was a 'Thank You' I have a half blind/mostly blind horse that I have to lead into the in/out building every night to get her oats and tho she doesn't 'say' it I know she thanks me every evening. And I feel good about it.

 

[gritsar]

When the chicks were small we noticed that Lil'Bit wasn't growing as fast as the others. After observing her for a good long while we noticed that she couldn't grab food in the feeder as well as the others. She also can't "zero in" on a treat. If you hold something like a piece of bread between your fingers and offer it to her she'll turn her head back and forth before pecking at it and still misses it 9 times out of 10.
A couple months ago my SO had me hold her while he brought his index finger closer and closer to her face. She can see out of her right eye and will blink when your finger gets too close to the right eye. You can actually poke her in her left eye before she'll blink. It's not scientific, but it told us what we needed to know. She can't see out of that left eye and that's messed up her depth perception; the reason she won't jump down from any height.

 

[Shared Acres]

Cute.

My silkie, Oprah, doesn't seem to see well out of one eye either. She sees well enough to run to me is she sees me. And she manages to climb in the coop at night.

We did the same "scientific finger test."

 

[KellyHM]

I wonder if that's what wrong with my little "loner" Silkie. She comes running when she sees me, which is why I didn't think of that at first. But she definitely misses her treats if I put them down right in front of her. Mind reading this and telling me what you think?

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=109031

 

[JanieMarie]

I braided a small bell in the mane of my gelding so Bella would know where he's at. Maybe you could put some sort of bell or sound indicator in the coop so lil bit would know when everyone is heading in?

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
I appreciate the suggestion. Lil'Bit's doesn't have a problem with knowing when everyone is going in to roost, but she won't attempt the step up into the coop by herself. If they are free-ranging and she gets seperated from the flock, she heads back to the coop area and waits for me to come rescue her.
In the mornings when I let everybody out, she's always the last one. She stands at the door and waits for me to pick her up and set her down on the ground.

 

[shareneh]

I know what you mean about being vigilant with those needy chickens. I have a hen who has a crooked beak and there isn't anything I wouldn't do for her. She can't eat right so I have to spend a lot of extra time with her so she gets fed. It is all worth it though. Keep up the good work mama.

 

[rebecca10782]

That is the sweetest thing. Bless you for taking care of a sweet little blind chicken

I know something about spoiled chickens too. If we go out to the coupe without oatmeal for our girls, we don't hear the end of it

They will "bawk bawk bawk!!!" at us and give us the evil look until we go back inside and fetch some treats for them.