Silkie Hen can't/won't (?) open her eyes

[Mother Chicken Lover]

Hoping someone has an answer. One of my hens was out, as they are daily, scratching and eating. All was well. In the evening when I round them up to coop she was in the elephant grass just laying there. Her eyes are shut and she seems blind. I have her in her own little house now. She does eat and drink. What could cause such quick symptoms?

 

[mestenos]

Perhaps she ate something toxic? Sometimes inbred chickens are genetically predisposed to certain illnesses that get triggered by the slightest things. I've had chickens suddenly get really sick on me, but an autopsy revealed that they had some horrible stuff going on inside for a while, like egg binding. It's hard to diagnose a really sick chicken and I don't have too much experience. Hopefully, somebody else will have suggestions or the sickness passes soon.

 

[Mother Chicken Lover]

Perhaps she ate something toxic? Sometimes inbred chickens are genetically predisposed to certain illnesses that get triggered by the slightest things. I've had chickens suddenly get really sick on me, but an autopsy revealed that they had some horrible stuff going on inside for a while, like egg binding. It's hard to diagnose a really sick chicken and I don't have too much experience. Hopefully, somebody else will have suggestions or the sickness passes soon.

Thank you. I've never had these chickens before and they were sickly when given to me. The rest are doing great as was this one.

 

[rebrascora]

My silkie had a problem with her eyes getting glued shut. I didn't realise that was the problem until she clearly could not see at all. I actually thought she was just a bit dippy and I actually named her Dippy. She would peck really hard at the food container and toddle around like she wasn't all there. I later figured out it was failing eyesight and depth perception due to eye irritation. Their crest and fine feathers sometimes catch in their eyes and irritate them. I used a warm dilute saline solution and a cotton bud (Q-tip) to gently bath them until she could open them again. A slight crest trim may also help prevent it happening again.

 

[Mother Chicken Lover]

Oh thank you so much. I will try that!