Woman With Blind Chicken Who Got Lost in Downpour Near Coop?

[ClareScifi]

I'm hoping to network with folks who have blind chickens, to learn more about how they cope with and acclimate to their disability. All contacts will be appreciated.

I'd especially love to reconnect with the nice woman who told me the story of her dear blind chicken who got outside during a rainy period and wasn't able to find her way back home. I checked my old posts but can't find her post. I would like to e-mail her, as I have a friend who has a blind chicken who has some questions.

Can anyone think who this woman was? It seems to me she lived in the south-- maybe Kentucky or Tennessee, but I could be wrong. It was in August or September that we connected on here, I think, shortly after my hen died. She was very sympathetic and shared her sad loss with me at the time.

Thanks for your help,

Clare

 

[scratch'n'peck]

Although I do not have a fully blind chicken and I am not sure which BYC member you are mentioning, I do know of a member who had a blind chicken. Here is a link to her new chicken page where she mentions her hen, Hazel, who was blind: https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/penny-gloria-and-nellie

 

[Suzie]

I have a blind chicken "Mattilda" ( Mattie ) - for a while I was hoping she had some vision but although her eyes are open she does not react to my hand movements near her eyes.

Mattie was a healthy and curious chicken - she was always the first in the morning to rush up to the house for any scraps there may have been left over from our evening meal the night before - she hunted in the house for spiders ( I detest spiders ) and ate anything edible about!

Sadly in November I noticed that she wasn't seeing food and she was somewhat disorientated - I isolated her from the flock and observed her behaviour for quite some time - it was obvious that she had a major problem, she not only had no idea where she was, she began to falter on movement - staggering around and using her wings for balance.

Chickenzoo suggested that she may have eaten something toxic ( or mouldy food ) - the only thought that came to mind was that there were a lot of mushrooms and toadstools about, some of which had small pieces missing - probably peck markings - I flushed her system and gave her antibiotics, she stopped walking altogether and I thought she would never have any quality of life. As I love Mattie so much I wanted to help her if at all possible to have some purpose for living. I bathed her, massaged her legs and held her feet while trying to walk her. Mattie fell over plenty of times and didn't make any effort to walk. I had to put her food and water up to her face so that she could get some nourishment.

It has taken what seems like ages to get Mattie back up and walking - she is now well balanced, walks about and can find her food - I have endlessly tapped her feed and water dishes and she instantly knows the sound and heads in the right direction, she responds to my voice and her few companions ( she is with one of my Silkie Mums with chicks ) keep her company!

The only problem being that I need to keep a watchful eye on her when she is outside - she nearly fell in the river a few days ago - she walked to the bridge and I caught her just in time!

I have a Cochin roo - he is blind in one eye and manages very well as long as his good eye is in the direction of hazards - he doesn't know which direction to go in otherwise - luckily the post lady knows of his dilemma and she drives slowly when he is about!

 

[ClareScifi]

Thanks for the posts about blind chickens.

The woman I was referring to had her tragedy last winter/spring, I believe, when there was all that flooding down south. I think she said she had searched for her girl 2 weeks, but it was so muddy and the grass was so high, she didn't find her right off. When she did find the hen, she was by the coop, I think she said not more than 50 feet away. I've tried to figure out how to do a search of her post, using key words, so I can figure out who she was, but so far nothing has worked. She said she think the chilliness is what got her hen. It was just too damp and wet in the grass, and she probably died trying to find her way back to the coop, because she was blind, which made it so hard. The woman had felt bad because I think she said she hadn't realized the hen had gotten out to free-range that day, until she was gone. She had sort of escaped, I think. The woman was really sweet and helping me deal with my guilt over my hen's death, explaining that sometimes these awful freak things just happen, no matter how much and how hard we try to love and protect our girls. I really liked her. She was so nice, and her comments probably helped me heal better than anything.

 

[ChickChickChicky]

Since the search feature on here is next to useless, try using google instead.I googled using "backyard chickens blind chicken rain flood". I came up with a possibility..

I really think that this thread contains the info you're looking for, I found a reference to a lady from Georgia talking about her hen who didn't make it through the flooding in Sept. I don't have the time or patience to look thru it all (188 pages) but maybe you can find the info somewhere inthere. https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/121387/yo-georgians/1720#post_7935117

 

[ClareScifi]

Hey, Great Find, ChickChickChicky! That DOES sound like her. I think her name was Lisa! You are amazing to come up with that. I spent a long, long time searching.

I have sent her a private message to see if she was the one who e-mailed me. I think she was.

Gratefully,

Clare

 

[ClareScifi]

Chick, Chick, Chicky, Lisa just e-mailed me back. She was, indeed, the one, so thank you very much! She is more than willing to help my friend.