blind chicken, possible Marek's?

[cherylmarie]

Hello,
I have a chicken who appears to be blind, about 8 weeks old. Symptoms developed about 10 days ago. Other than a pale comb I don't see any other symptoms. The other 3 chickens she is currently with don't have any signs of illness. I have given "her" electrolytes and scrambled and or boiled eggs with vitamin E on them. I have read a bit about Marek's and see that it can manifest in various ways and possibly live in most if not all chickens without it affecting them. I will have to go back to my history to post a link to that if someone wants. But if that is true, I can't see continuing to separate these 4 from the rest makes much sense. Obviously it could be something other than Marek's. Any ideas are appreciated.
She eats and drinks fine on her own, just takes a little longer to find it sometimes. Tried to post a video, but I am not very techy. I would like to give away or sell some of my flock, but can't if they might be sick. Does anyone have an experience in this area? thanks, Cheryl

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I have a chicken who appears to be blind, about 8 weeks old. Symptoms developed about 10 days ago. Other than a pale comb I don't see any other symptoms.

She eats and drinks fine on her own, just takes a little longer to find it sometimes. Tried to post a video, but I am not very techy.

A video may be helpful, you can upload to YouTube and provide a link or upload to the BYC GALLERY, just let us know.

Clear photos of both of her eyes would be good.

What makes you think she is blind - you mention she takes longer to find the food - do you place the food in the same place every day or is she just having a hard time finding things like scratch scattered about?

She's eating/drinking fine.
What do you feed, including treats?

Ocular Marek's usually presents as a color change of the eye(s), or they can become misshaped.

Hello,
I have a chicken who appears to be blind, about 8 weeks old. Symptoms developed about 10 days ago. Other than a pale comb I don't see any other symptoms. The other 3 chickens she is currently with don't have any signs of illness. I have given "her" electrolytes and scrambled and or boiled eggs with vitamin E on them. I have read a bit about Marek's and see that it can manifest in various ways and possibly live in most if not all chickens without it affecting them. I will have to go back to my history to post a link to that if someone wants. But if that is true, I can't see continuing to separate these 4 from the rest makes much sense. Obviously it could be something other than Marek's. Any ideas are appreciated.
She eats and drinks fine on her own, just takes a little longer to find it sometimes. Tried to post a video, but I am not very techy. I would like to give away or sell some of my flock, but can't if they might be sick. Does anyone have an experience in this area? thanks, Cheryl

 

[cherylmarie]

A video may be helpful, you can upload to YouTube and provide a link or upload to the BYC GALLERY, just let us know.

Clear photos of both of her eyes would be good.

What makes you think she is blind - you mention she takes longer to find the food - do you place the food in the same place every day or is she just having a hard time finding things like scratch scattered about?

She's eating/drinking fine.
What do you feed, including treats?

Ocular Marek's usually presents as a color change of the eye(s), or they can become misshaped.

 

[cherylmarie]

She is not any worse than when I first posted. She seems to see movements (me, when I enter the cage) from a distance, but not up close. I can put my hand near either side of her head and she will not move or startle like most chickens. None of the other chickens have become ill. The four in this cage eat non medicated chick food. Occasional scrambled eggs. I do my best to keep the food in the same place. I will post more videos later (now that I can do it), I know this one is not the best.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

She is not any worse than when I first posted. She seems to see movements (me, when I enter the cage) from a distance, but not up close. I can put my hand near either side of her head and she will not move or startle like most chickens. None of the other chickens have become ill. The four in this cage eat non medicated chick food. Occasional scrambled eggs. I do my best to keep the food in the same place. I will post more videos later (now that I can do it), I know this one is not the best.

Oh, I see. Good photos, thank you.

I wonder if it's cataracts. Let's see what thoughts @Eggcessive and @coach723 have.

 

[coach723]

Could be cataracts. She's so young, makes me wonder. Could have been injury, infection, hard to say. High ammonia levels can damage the corneas, or could have been something it hatched with and finally progressed to a noticeable state. It does not look like what I generally see with Marek's disease, those generally look like an irregular gradually shrinking pupil, with some color changes to the iris. Image below of one of mine lost to Mareks:

 

[Eggcessive]

I have seen plenty of cataracts in my dogs over the years. Usually the whole pupil is cloudy and dilated (enlarged to let more light in.) In chickens with Mareks, which I have only seen in pictures, the pupil gets smaller looking because of changes in the colored iris, which becomes paler to sometime gray and misshapened which causes the pupil to be irregular shaped. Pupils can become cloudy with high ammonia fumes and with some diseases, including respiratory diseases. Many times the best way to know what is going on with your flock is to let your state vet do a necropsy on any chicken that you lose or put down.

 

[HorseGirlAbby]

I think it looks more like cataracts than Marek’s. I have an older hen who developed cataracts to the point at which she can no longer really see anything. She’s thriving now, and is a happy little hen, so it’s possible for them to live a good life even if they can’t see.

Keep in mind you might have to separate your girl though, as the others will probably start picking on her as soon as they realize something is different. And having a blind chicken is more work, they can be high maintenance sometimes. If it is cataracts, she’s not likely to recover from it.

 

[Debbie292d]

In case she winds up truly blind, I know of two excellent articles that may help.

This first one, you have to scroll way down to get to the part about the OP's blind chicken: https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...and-caring-for-the-special-needs-chick.72163/

This one is pretty good:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/caring-for-a-blind-chicken.79325/

 

[cherylmarie]

Thanks everyone! How long does Marek's usually take to spread? I really need to sell or give away some of my chickens and I want to be really sure I am not being irresponsible.