Still need help - sudden blindness in hen(s)

[Midlandchick]

I am not sure if this will be helpful or not - I searched "cloudy eyes chickens" in the merck vet manual and came up with 282 results - but you might be able to narrow down the search with more key words/symptoms.

http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index.jsp?cfile=htm/bc/204601.htm

I have a rooster going blind. I read too much ammonia in their coop can cause blindness? It the coop needs cleaned maybe try that?

Maybe it is a result of the poor conditions they were raised in? Just took a while to manifest? (like a vitamin deficiency?)

 

[LaurieP]

I posted the following about a week ago but have not received a response. I'm posting it again (moving it up) because I think another of our hens is going blind. Help!


One of our hens, a little over a year old, seems to have suddenly gone blind in the last couple days. We can see no discharge or change in color in her pupils, although it's possible that the area around her eyes might be irritated. I say "might" because she also seems to be molting and so has lost feathers around her face. Or is she not molting and the feather loss plus blindness is indicative of something else? She's stopped laying, too.

She seems to have no problem finding her perch or food and water in the coop, and she's still hanging with the others and not being pecked. But we've noticed she seems to be using sound more than sight to get around and find the others when they're all outside free ranging. She will eat out of our hands, as always, but we have to get our hand right in front of her. She used to come to us and find it herself.

Any ideas about how to determine if she is indeed blind, what might be the cause, and what might be done about it?

UPDATE: The hen has definitely stopped laying and her eyes do seem somewhat cloudy now. The second hen is still laying but her eyes may be showing the beginnings of clouding.

Someone just asked what if we figured out the blindness and the outcome of our hen.

Quote

I have a Rhode Island Red that is about 4 years old. She acted like she had a stroke about 3 weeks ago. She couldn’t even walk at first, but got some meds from vet, which helped her. She definitely is blind in at least one eye. She gets around better now, but tonight I noticed her sister, which I got from the same hatching, seems to be blind in at least one eye now. They have no discoloration or cloudiness, no visible signs of any damage. I am not sure how long chickens live, but as long as they can eat and drink they will be in the coop only and no more going out

 

[LaurieP]

Someone just asked what if we figured out the blindness and the outcome of our hen.

Quote:

I have a Rhode Island Red that is about 4 years old. She acted like she had a stroke about 3 weeks ago. She couldn’t even walk at first, but got some meds from vet, which helped her. She definitely is blind in at least one eye. She gets around better now, but tonight I noticed her sister, which I got from the same hatching, seems to be blind in at least one eye now. They have no discoloration or cloudiness, no visible signs of any damage. I am not sure how long chickens live, but as long as they can eat and drink they will be in the coop only and no more going out

 

[LaurieP]

Anyone ever solve this?
Been searching all day, and this post description sounds the closest to what I think might be happening to one of my hens yesterday.

One of my 4 year old hens just went blind overnight.

Her eyes are very clear and clean and no conjunctivitis.
She is on Baytril.
I did give her nutri-drench for some nutrition.

She is in a mini-molt for a few weeks now, and her sister hen is doing fine.

They all eat the same food, but I did change feed a few weeks ago, to a new bag of purina layer.

So sad. I hope its temporary.

Thank you.

That’s what mine did also. I also used the nutri-drench. I also read to use flock raiser when they are molting, which mine have been doing. I never switched before, and I don’t think I’m going to be doing it again, although I continued to mix layer feed in it since I have one chicken still laying, I swear my chicken had a stroke, because she couldn’t walk at first

 

[khind]

That’s what mine did also. I also used the nutri-drench. I also read to use flock raiser when they are molting, which mine have been doing. I never switched before, and I don’t think I’m going to be doing it again, although I continued to mix layer feed in it since I have one chicken still laying, I swear my chicken had a stroke, because she couldn’t walk at first

I'm so sorry to read this, and I wonder what's happened with your hen since - or whether you've ever been able to learn anything else. My 1-yr-old RIR hen, who we hatched last year, suddenly cannot see. Overnight - like the day before yesterday. It took me a day or so to figure out that she wasn't just acting strange. She needs to have food placed right in front of her now, yet she jumps on the roost fine (maybe she can see far away better than relatively close? Or maybe because the roost is larger than crumble?). I'm about to call a vet to see if someone there treats chickens. Her eye does look strange - different from the other chickens' eyes - although it's so hard to get her to sit still for a good pic that I can only get a look at one eye and not the other.

 

[JerOmyJ3]

I have a yearling rooster that seems to have gone completely blind over night. He used to be the one the other roosters picked on and they would make his head bleed but I got rid of those trouble makers months ago and he has been fine. Now both of his eyes are cloudy and he is completely blind. I had to search him out in the woods twice today just laying in brush. I now have him fenced in but have no clue what caused this.

 

[khind]

I have a yearling rooster that seems to have gone completely blind over night. He used to be the one the other roosters picked on and they would make his head bleed but I got rid of those trouble makers months ago and he has been fine. Now both of his eyes are cloudy and he is completely blind. I had to search him out in the woods twice today just laying in brush. I now have him fenced in but have no clue what caused this.

Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry to hear this...

Since this thread is so old, and the last person to post before me the other day was in Dec. 2020, I encourage you to start a new thread by posting your situation as a question in this same category (Medical Emergencies/Illness...). More people who may be able to help will see it that way.

My hen has gone blind and it turns out she has the ocular form of Marek's Disease. However, her eyes do not have a cloudy appearance.

Please post your question. I hope some people with knowledge and experience with this can help.

 

[khind]

I have a yearling rooster that seems to have gone completely blind over night. He used to be the one the other roosters picked on and they would make his head bleed but I got rid of those trouble makers months ago and he has been fine. Now both of his eyes are cloudy and he is completely blind. I had to search him out in the woods twice today just laying in brush. I now have him fenced in but have no clue what caused this.

Hello again,
This morning I looked at my hen's eyes - the one with ocular Marek's Disease - and it dawned on me that they could very well be described with "cloudy;" I had focused on the blurred edges between her pupils and iris, but they actually do look almost gray-ish.
*Your rooster might have something different*, but I wanted you to know that. Also, I would have sworn my hen went blind overnight, but even though the worst eyesight came somewhat quickly, the process actually is gradual. And I can now look at a couple ways she behaved that were just different from her normal behavior that I truly believe were actually due to her eyesight weakening.

I've posted 2 threads on my hen just recently, about her eyes and condition. I'm including a link to the 1st one here. I started it having no clue what could have been causing her blindness, so i go into a lot of points, fishing for answers. But then I include pictures of her eyes, and others with knowledge have responded with their own input and with another very helpful link for understanding what *might* be going on with your rooster. Again, if course, it may be something else altogether. But I think this discussion would be a really good idea to look at. Feel free to hop on that discussion. Posting pics of your rooster's eyes would help as well.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/sudden-blindness-etc-rir-1-yr-old.1483461/#post-24728442

The 2nd thread i also have going is called Can an Ocular Marek's hen ever return to the flock?
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...urn-to-the-flock.1483858/page-3#post-24742485
Some very helpful answers came on that one as well.
Both of these threads have only about a dozen comments each, so at least you're not plowing through fifteen or more pages to find answers.

 

[Lady Clucks-a-Lot]

I'm so sorry to hear about your rooster. I found this article on BYC that may help.
Here's the link to it :
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/information-on-chicken-eyesight.67301/

 

[khind]

I have a yearling rooster that seems to have gone completely blind over night. He used to be the one the other roosters picked on and they would make his head bleed but I got rid of those trouble makers months ago and he has been fine. Now both of his eyes are cloudy and he is completely blind. I had to search him out in the woods twice today just laying in brush. I now have him fenced in but have no clue what caused this.

One other condition I saw come up recently in this group is a young chicken with "cloudy eyes" who it looks like has cataracts. So, again, there are some other possibilities.