Penelope 1 year old mutt hen born and raised in my flock. not eating, poo is gritty, mostly water but some green grit like stuff and a scant amount of white. I feed Layena crumble alternating with flock raiser.(I have chicks and chukars and hens and roosters all together). They also get cracked corn in the morning scattered throughout the run. Fresh h20 daily in several containers.
Penelope has suddenly become blind. She will not eat, but I have managed to get her to drink on her own. It all started a little over a week ago. Penelope started getting upper respiratory signs...eye bubbles and sneezing and nasal discharge.( I have mycoplasma in the flock and have dealt with it for years. I rarely lose a bird to it. so I gave her oral baytril..tablets 1/2 tablet of a 22.7g Baytril. I have the proper dose according to the veterinary drug handbook as she is about 2 lbs.) She improved greatly after 3 days of baytril, looked all better then suddenly yesterday I spotted her sitting on the roost in the coop, in the middle of the day. I went over to pick her up and examine her and she screamed like I have never heard her. I still wasn't sure what was going on, but she clearly had not eaten. I just made banana bread and had some batter in the bowl that she ate off the spoon when I put her beak in it. I wasn't sure yesterday, but I know today she cannot see. she looks around trying to see, but cannot. She dips her beak in a bowl of water and it's very clear she can't see where the water is.
the other factor about the flock that complicates things is last year I contracted Mareks disease as well. After I lost 4 birds to that I disinfected the entire coop and it's contents and moved the run to a new area...knock on wood...no signs of Mareks rearing back up again in the new chicks this year
I have put the sav a chick vitamin water in there for her and administered oral vitamins too.
I just need advice on where to go from here....
ok, I will admit that I have a cluster of situations right now, what I don't need is someone to lecture on the points of avoiding disease cause what's done is done. I am not going to "cull" my entire flock...but if it's the right thing to do to euthanize her to prevent her from starving to death then I will do that
Thanks!
Penelope has suddenly become blind. She will not eat, but I have managed to get her to drink on her own. It all started a little over a week ago. Penelope started getting upper respiratory signs...eye bubbles and sneezing and nasal discharge.( I have mycoplasma in the flock and have dealt with it for years. I rarely lose a bird to it. so I gave her oral baytril..tablets 1/2 tablet of a 22.7g Baytril. I have the proper dose according to the veterinary drug handbook as she is about 2 lbs.) She improved greatly after 3 days of baytril, looked all better then suddenly yesterday I spotted her sitting on the roost in the coop, in the middle of the day. I went over to pick her up and examine her and she screamed like I have never heard her. I still wasn't sure what was going on, but she clearly had not eaten. I just made banana bread and had some batter in the bowl that she ate off the spoon when I put her beak in it. I wasn't sure yesterday, but I know today she cannot see. she looks around trying to see, but cannot. She dips her beak in a bowl of water and it's very clear she can't see where the water is.
the other factor about the flock that complicates things is last year I contracted Mareks disease as well. After I lost 4 birds to that I disinfected the entire coop and it's contents and moved the run to a new area...knock on wood...no signs of Mareks rearing back up again in the new chicks this year
I have put the sav a chick vitamin water in there for her and administered oral vitamins too.
I just need advice on where to go from here....
- can a blind hen exist if she can eat and drink on her own?
- Does the rest of the flock pick on them?
- Any tricks for getting them to eat and drink on their own?
- If the baytril has caused it, then she will always be blind (there are reports of blindness in cats from baytril)
- Are there any cases out there to suggest the mycoplasma would have caused the blindness?
- Is there any chance at all that it could be a vitamin deficiency and how long would it take to see her vision repair if that was the case?
ok, I will admit that I have a cluster of situations right now, what I don't need is someone to lecture on the points of avoiding disease cause what's done is done. I am not going to "cull" my entire flock...but if it's the right thing to do to euthanize her to prevent her from starving to death then I will do that
Thanks!
