Sudden blindness!?!?

[chickenmomma16]

I have a 1 yr old gold sex-link hen that seems to have gone blind quite suddenly. About 2 weeks ago I noticed a hen not roosting on the actual roosting board but on the lip of the poop board. Didn’t think much of it, but a few days ago I went out and noticed she was looking at me weird and moving her head around like she was trying to look at something. The only thing I noticed is her pupils are fully dilated as of tonight and no longer react to a flashlight being shown in them. I’m at a loss... she’s a sweet friendly hen and otherwise is a healthy girl, I just don’t know what happened.
I can’t keep a needy chicken and she now requires me to carry her into the coop at night because she can’t see to go in at night.
Any idea what could cause this? She’s only a year old!

 

[Eggcessive]

Can you get close-up pictures if her eyes? Has there been any color change, cloudiness, discharge, pecking injury, or swelling? When you set a treat down in front of her, does she peck at it? Many things can cause blindness in chickens, including infections, injuries by pecking, vitamin A or E deficiency, avian encephalomelitis infection as a baby chick, Mareks disease, cataracts, and others.

 

[chickenmomma16]

Can you get close-up pictures if her eyes? Has there been any color change, cloudiness, discharge, pecking injury, or swelling? When you set a treat down in front of her, does she peck at it? Many things can cause blindness in chickens, including infections, injuries by pecking, vitamin A or E deficiency, avian encephalomelitis infection as a baby chick, Mareks disease, cataracts, and others.

No injuries, pecking, they were hatchery chicks from Dunlop and I believe they were vaccinated, eyes look clear, they get this feed + free range time nearly everyday: https://www.nutrenaworld.com/product/country-feeds-egg-producer

This is the hen in question:

Here is a video: (I just watched the video, sorry it’s so poor of quality)

Here is a different hens eye for comparison:

 

[Eggcessive]

She seems to be having some neurologicsl symptoms with the head twitching. Her right eye does look abnormal, the irregular iris makes the pupil appear oval shaped. If it turns grey over time, I would suspect ocular Mareks, but some chickens may have irregular shaped pupils. I would place her near her food and water in a small area, pen or dog crate. I would offer her wet chicken feed to get both fluids and water into her. Chopped egg is another favorite for them to eat. If you should lose her in the future, I would contact your state vet for a necropsy and testing for Mareks disease. Sometimes head injuries or vitamin E deficiency can cause neurological symptoms, but with her irregular eye, I wonder about it being Mareks. Here is some contact info for your state vet or poultry lab:
http://www.metzerfarms.com/PoultryLabs.cfm

 

[Eggcessive]

I also wanted to add that a head injury could also cause dilated pupils. In person, does her right pupil look smaller that the left, and oval-shaped? Sometimes pictures are hard to judge. Here is some reading about the different signs of Mareks disease:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/the-great-big-giant-mareks-disease-faq.66077/

 

[chickenmomma16]

She seems to be having some neurologicsl symptoms with the head twitching. Her right eye does look abnormal, the irregular iris makes the pupil appear oval shaped. If it turns grey over time, I would suspect ocular Mareks, but some chickens may have irregular shaped pupils. I would place her near her food and water in a small area, pen or dog crate. I would offer her wet chicken feed to get both fluids and water into her. Chopped egg is another favorite for them to eat. If you should lose her in the future, I would contact your state vet for a necropsy and testing for Mareks disease. Sometimes head injuries or vitamin E deficiency can cause neurological symptoms, but with her irregular eye, I wonder about it being Mareks. Here is some contact info for your state vet or poultry lab:
http://www.metzerfarms.com/PoultryLabs.cfm

I just sent a bird in to the state vet for a necropsy a few months ago, this has not been my year for chickens...

Thanks for the reply!

 

[Eggcessive]

Here are a few threads about ocular mareks with pictures from several sources:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/ocular-mareks-symptoms.1144846/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/dilated-pupils.1023601/

 

[chickenmomma16]

Here is another picture of her eyes I just took, they look the same to me.

Here is a normal hen

 

[chickenmomma16]

I don’t have any poultry drench on me, I can go to the feed store after my daughter wakes from her nap. Would this help if it’s a vitamin D or E deficiency?

I sure hope it’s not Mareks...

 

[chickenmomma16]

I do have Red Cell for horses on hand will that work?