Gidget: The Tale of a Blind Chicken

[tlcmurphy]

I know I haven't posted anything for a while...I've had lots of stuff going on. I wanted to say that Gidgy is still going strong! She's pretty much completely blind now, and I don't know if she can really even see light and dark anymore. A week or two ago, Ivy, one of my other hens, started really going after Gidgy, so I had to separate them. Gidget has been living in the entryway for now, at least until she's done molting and it gets too chilly. I'm actually surprised she started molting, because molts are triggered by less light, and if she can't see light, then . But she's growing plenty of little feathers in now, and looks quite bedraggled. Near the end of the summer, she'd lost most of the feathers off the back of her head and neck, due to her not being able to run away from the stupid rooster. Thankfully his affections have slowed down now that she's not laying. Anyway, Gidgy is still able to eat and drink, and I have her food and water in bowls on the floor, which she finds by basically running into them. She does like to roost on the edge of the food bowl, but she's so tiny she doesn't dump it over. She can't get on the roost anymore, and she can't even tell which side of the coop it's on, poor little girl. She can't find scratch on the ground either, but if I put some in my hand and hold it right in front of her face, she'll eventually peck it. She still seems to be loving life, and as long as that's true, she'll be sticking around.
My little Gidgy
View attachment 3684707

She is the absolute cutest
Your question regarding her molting without the daylight trigger is an excellent one! Does she lay all year long? Maybe she goes by what her sisters tell her? Enquiring minds want to know!

 

[HorseGirlAbby]

She is the absolute cutest
Your question regarding her molting without the daylight trigger is an excellent one! Does she lay all year long? Maybe she goes by what her sisters tell her? Enquiring minds want to know!

Thank you.
Gidget actually wasn't laying for a few years prior to this spring; I don't know why she stopped, and I really don't know why she started again. She started laying again at about the same time I noticed her eyesight failing, and I'm wondering if that's just a coincidence or if there's something there. So she was laying for a few months in the spring and summer, but stopped again, likely because of the heat. And her molt is quite late, most of the other girls are over and done with theirs, I think there are just one or two left who haven't started. And no one is laying now, but I'm not sure if Gidget could tell when they stopped to molt. That's interesting though, I didn't think about her paying attention to the others to know when it was time to molt. Good questions!

 

[RiDaGeckoGuy]

I might be mistaken but I think almost all blind people can sense light and your chicken looks like dogs I’ve seen that lost depth precipitation but can still see kinda but maybe not she could just have light precipitation a tad bit

 

[HorseGirlAbby]

Well, Gidget is laying eggs! She's still living in the entryway, and just lays them wherever on the floor. It's obvious she can still sense light though, because the days are getting longer and she can tell. She's actually one of my first few hens to start laying. I don't think her eyes are getting better, and I think at this stage it's safe to assume she'll be blind for the rest of her life. Our neighbor looked after her and the other chickens while we were gone for Christmas, and he said that in all his years of chicken keeping, he's never seen one as blind as her. However, she's still super perky and so happy to be alive. I open the door and am greeted by her every morning, talking loudly and excitedly. She has a home with us for as long as she lives, for sure.

 

[HorseGirlAbby]

Little update on Gidgy! I have her in my "disabled chickens" coop, a tractor next to the big coop. She's been living in there this summer with Delaware, who's got a crooked neck and gets picked on by the others. They seem to enjoy it in there, and lay their eggs in the corner. I let them out every evening to free range with the others, and they seem to all get along okay for that short amount of time.

I don't have any recent photos of her, but her feathers are in excellent shape. She doesn't seem to have any problem preening even though she can't see what she's doing.

She is absolutely my friendliest chicken. She can hear us talking in the garden, and calls and calls until someone goes to give her some attention. She loves hugs, but is very opinionated, and when she wants food, you'd better give it to her or she'll think you're the food! She's gotten better about running into things, she seems to be able to sense them. She's memorized the layout of the tractor, and jumps up and down from the roost with no problem.

She does need a little special care, but she's worth every bit of it.

 

[HorseGirlAbby]

Gidget (middle) dust bathing with friends Little Nancy (left) and Delaware (right). I was standing there to prevent them from dusting the acorn squash plant too much. They dusted me instead.