Hen went blind

[circledranch]

Please help! I noticed the last couple of days one of my Frizzle's was no longer roosting when I got home. I placed her on the roost. Last night I got home a little earlier and noticed she was trying to come to me as usual and was running into everything in her path, then stopping and turning and repeating. Long story short, I know she developed blindness, I believe in a short period of time. :? I set up a cage for her this morning with food/water and tried to show her what it was all about. She is 3 years old. I have read about a couple of illnesses that "may" cause blindness but am so unsure. I'm assuming external reasons like a chicken pecking her hard could possibly cause it too? Is she doomed? Or, does anyone have any ideas? Please share your thoughts.

[Evy]

Are you sure it's blind? Eyes injured or clouded over? What breed of frizzle is it ? Crested birds often develop neurogical problems, which would explain the actions.

[circledranch]

I would say I'm 95% sure she is blind. She is not a crested breed and yes, I have heard of that before too in the crested breeds. It's so hard to watch her now with the time change and early darkness in our area. When it is light out, I am at work. I will know more this weekend. Her eyes do not appear clouded over, however she doesn't seem to know how to navigate or where she is. If I wave anything in front of her face she doesn't flinch or try to move away.

[robin416]

I have a blind bird. They are very deliberate in their movements, they use caution and carefully place their feet as they move about. They utilize their bounderies to find their food and water.

To make certain she is blind take a flash light in to the coop after dark, shine it in each eye. If she reacts then she is not blind or not completely blind. This roo I have has a very slight reaction to light in his right eye. Check her pupils, you will usually find the pupils blown wide open.

My boy has a calm girl in his pen with him. If he goes outside its to a pen that is the same dimensions as his indoor pen. Water is placed in the same place as inside. If there is no other disease process going on they can live just like any other bird with some precautions on our part.

[circledranch]

Thank you. She has no reaction to flashlight shined in her eyes or to any movement in front of her face. I have to double check the size of her pupils.

I placed her in a pen with a calm silky, who showed her where the food was. When the silky eats, the frizzle hears her and goes to where she is eating to eat as well. I am so unsure of how to handle this with a cold winter coming on. The pen is a rabbit cage, placed on the floor of the coop so she is not isolated. However, it limits floor space and I will worry about the cold of winter. She is very tiny. I was so hoping there was a magic cure, but I'm thinking there is not. I will have to weigh all of this out very carefully...

May I ask how long your rooster has been blind and in a separate pen? Thanks.

[circledranch]

Thanks. What a lucky rooster. My chickens are definitely my pets too and this little red frizzle is very precious to me. Unfortunately, I don't have the great setup that you have and can only do the best I can with her at this point. It was also very obvious to me that she was blind when I saw her running into things, back up, becoming disoriented when trying to come to my voice. I cannot bring myself to cull her, as I'm not good with that sort of thing! I will need to procrastinate on this for some time....

Thank you.

[rickinaz]

i had a little experience with a blind Wyandotte hen last year. my flock is small, and have a certain "pet" value (within practicality). she was still a good layer, but as soon as the general population of 20 hens and 2 roosters realized she was blind, they started to be more aggressive with her and would chase her. so i isolated her to a large cage, where she was less stressed by tho others and she continued to be a good producer. my point here is that i think separation is a good idea, if you aren't going to cull her.