Rooster attacked by oppossum, wont eat or drink, foggy eyes, wont hardly move

PeckThePioneerChicken

In the Brooder
May 2, 2018
11
17
49
2 days ago my rooster was outside on my porch when a opossum tried to grab him, as far as I can tell he has no wounds, it looks like he just lost some feathers. We had gotten out there super fast and at that point he seemed fine, just a little shaken up. I went and put him in the coop for the night and when I went to let him out in the morning one of his eyes was foggy. We put medicine in it and let him out to wander.
This morning he was just sitting in the middle of the yard so I went to get him and see if he was okay. When I started to look at him I discovered his other eye was foggy. I also noticed the first eye that was foggy has white spots, maybe cataracts? It may have been there yesterday but he would hardly open it so I'm not sure. Also his pupils are odd shaped, they are long, almost like a goats.
He was very weak, not much in this crop, so I brought him some sugar water and chicken food, he wont eat or drink them. He seems lighter than yesterday too. He is not tame whatsoever but didnt fight me hardly on picking him up. He is very very weak. What should I do for him and what does it seem like it wrong with him?
 
Could you post a pic of his eyes? The only thing I can think of that would mess with pupil size is blindness or Mareks. @Wyorp Rock @Eggcessive
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First pic is of the first eye to become foggy, second pic is the other one, it's not as good of a picture but that pupil is more odd shaped.
 
Sometimes the 3rd eyelid or nictitating membrane can be seen and it looks grey. The left eye definitely looks like it has been hurt and the right one looks abnormal as well. Can you take him in to see a vet or a farm vet? If that is not possible I would clean his eyes where the crust is, and apply some plain antibiotic ointment to his eyes 2-3 times a day. Terramycin eye ointment from the feed store is good, but I have used plain Neospirin in a pinch. Has the rooster seemed to see well up until this incident with the opossum? You will need to separate him and feed him 2-3 times per day since he probably cannot see. Mix some chicken feed with a lot of water to make a mush, and some other things to try would be canned cat food, bits of scrambled egg, or tuna. Make everything watery to get more water into him. Water is more important than food now. If he is permanently blind, then you might have to decide whether or not to put him down, especially if you cannot get him eating and drinking. Sorry about your rooster. I would be trying to trap the opossum.
 
Sometimes the 3rd eyelid or nictitating membrane can be seen and it looks grey. The left eye definitely looks like it has been hurt and the right one looks abnormal as well. Can you take him in to see a vet or a farm vet? If that is not possible I would clean his eyes where the crust is, and apply some plain antibiotic ointment to his eyes 2-3 times a day. Terramycin eye ointment from the feed store is good, but I have used plain Neospirin in a pinch. Has the rooster seemed to see well up until this incident with the opossum? You will need to separate him and feed him 2-3 times per day since he probably cannot see. Mix some chicken feed with a lot of water to make a mush, and some other things to try would be canned cat food, bits of scrambled egg, or tuna. Make everything watery to get more water into him. Water is more important than food now. If he is permanently blind, then you might have to decide whether or not to put him down, especially if you cannot get him eating and drinking. Sorry about your rooster. I would be trying to trap the opossum.
I doubt we will be able to take him to a vet, I will try putting neosporin in his eyes, but they are closed most of the time unless he hears a loud noise. He was completely fine before as far as I know, and i know his eye injuries are not from other chickens as he is currently our only full grow chicken. I made him some mush but I can not get him to eat it... he doesn't even try. We have dealt with 2 blind chickens before so hopefully if we can get him past not wanting to eat or drink we will be able to help him like we did with the others. I will try to see if we can trap the opossum... thank you so much!
 
How is the ventilation in your coop? Is there any ammonia odor from droppings? That can be very irritating to eyes and cause problems.
 

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