Still dont know whats wrong with trudy

[Chelseyb123]

Yesterday trudy my 1.5yr austrolp hen had suddenly fall over when I entered the run and she was also Twitching head around and walking side ways. Now all day yesterday and up until then she's been acting normal other than she stopped laying like 2-3weeks ago(seasons are changing I live in Maine as well shorter days) and one day when I called my flock she didn't come running like she does she was laying under there fav little trees.(but that was the only time she did ttreesand she run over to rest after I found her. But I removed her from the rest of the flock. Last night when I got home she was still eating drinking and popping. But when I took her out she had started doing circles and then stopped and wondered a little bit. Now today shows been acting fine standing up right eating drinking pooping no twitch but still walking funny hers a video of her outside today. I did notice today one of her eyes is puffy around it. No puss or bubble or anything coming out of it and the other eye was completely fine. So I dont know whats happening but it also seems like she can't see out that eye. Take a look tell me what you rhink. Thank you in advance.

 

[chitownhens]

What I would do is pick her up and see if you can tell if she has impaired sight in the one eye by moving your finger toward it as you hold and observe her reaction. I have a Black Australorp that has only one eye and she always moves in the direction of her good eye which appears to be circle walking but in reality she is just moving in the direction of her sight. She gets around well enough with the one eye so long term it’s not an issue. I can take a video if you think it would help.


I also have an Easter Egger that had some type of neurological event possibly Marek’s that caused her to fall down which led to walking around in circles and then to total blindness. I didn’t take video when she was at her worst because I was losing hope but I do have the beginning stage and then the recovery which was 7 days later. I had to force feed her for about 5 days. She ended up recovering with a slight impairment to one eye which makes her sight slightly off when pecking at small objects but as long as the bowl is full she manages fairly well.

It's possible that your girl has a temporary eye issue, maybe even an infection which might need treatment. I would post a close up picture of her eyes.

 

[Chelseyb123]

Yeah see these videos are also the same as how trudy is acting especially the first video. What can I do possible to help? And how did you treat the issue? Her sister Alice today had seemed down in the dumps and eating a little less I gave them pumpkin seeds and yogurt which they all love and she just pecked at whatever got thrown around near her and walked away and laid next to my Sussex that I also got with trudy and alice. And this is the first night she's not roosting next to Mr. Roo. But all my other hens and roosters seem healthy and fine I checked all their eyes tonight but no signs of anything. So I dont know.

 

[chitownhens]

Yeah see these videos are also the same as how trudy is acting especially the first video. What can I do possible to help? And how did you treat the issue?

Well the issue for the Easter Egger was that by the 3rd day she was completely blind so she could not eat. She just walked around in circles completely dazed. So I force fed her raw pastured beef liver twice a day along with water using and eye dropper for about 5 days. To force feed her I found what worked best was to pry open her beak, hold it partially open with my index finger wedged inside and slide the small piece of liver far enough back entering from the side and she would then swallow on her own unless it was not back far enough and she would spit it out. The meat was soaking in warm water so it was very slippery which made the process easier. Somehow she recovered.

But if your hen is able to eat then maybe all that is needed is time. I would still try and take some photos of the eye. The Black Australorp I have with only one eye tends to stay by herself. My guess is maybe it's some type of natural protection mechanism. Hens tend to go off by themselves when they are not feeling 100% and maybe that is why your girl is not roosting next to the roo but I'm only guessing.

 

[Chelseyb123]

Yeah in not sure but trudy and Alice are always together and with the Roo. But trudy is eating drinking an pooping I have her caged out side. I have three kids and two dogs so I didn't want to bring her in an cause more stress Luckily im a stay at home mom so I can monitor her most of the day/night. Im giving her some extra natural vitamins.

 

[micstrachan]

Trudy is so adorable and looks much better than I expected. Thinking you may be onto something with the vision thing, but not sure how that ties to her initial symptoms?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I don't really see anything too concerning about her actions, unless I'm missing something

She's the right age to be molting - do you see any new feather growth?
Have you check her for any mite/lice?

In the photo on your other thread, I do see a little swelling - if it's only on 1eye, it could be from a peck to the eye, dirt/debris - have you tried flushing the eye with saline to see if there is anything in the eye and applying an ophthalmic ointment like Terramycin or Vetericyn eye gel to see if there is any improvement? https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/something-is-wrong-with-trudy.1205589/

What do you feed her? She would probably benefit from some extra protein like egg, tuna or meat in addition to her normal feed. Poultry vitamins that contain Vitamin E and B1 for a couple of days a week won't hurt either.

 

[Chelseyb123]

Yeah see im just so unsure. Maybe when she got starteled. She got dirt in that. Because she was laying that way on the grown with the others before she fell over. And she is almost done molting she was in the middle of it when I got her. Its just the under feathers now. So I have found some of her feathers in the cage and I've looked them all over each time they look healthy and normal. I have brought her inside now because its really windy and down pooring tonight Here. But I will try and clean her eye now that she's settled. But when I let her out today she was running around when I was trying to get her back in her cage. So im really hoping that its just dirt or a scratch to the eye. Thank you

 

[Chelseyb123]

Also I did just switch their food to blue seal home fresh its a lot better than the feed I was getting from a local store Southern States Traditions Egg Layer its the only. Brand they carry but it has a lot of corn in to. You can see many pieces in it. the blue seal I thought would be much better for them.

 

[Chelseyb123]

Here are some pics I took I had moved her to a tote flushed her eye out with some warm water first two pics are the eye that is puffy and the third is the best i could take of her other eye she keeps her puffy upwards when im talking to her. But see no discharge