My hen has gone blind in one eye!

[Paulagee]

I'm sorry if im doing this wrong but I just made an account on here and still not sure how to work it but I need help ASAP please!! I checked on my hens yesterday and didn't see anything wrong or anyone acting weird. I have 7 chickens all together and 2 roosters but today as I went out and checked on them, I saw one of my silkies sitting by the door sleeping. I picked her up and saw that her right eye its white and cloudy! She doesn't react to motion when I move my hand on the right side of her (bad eye side) but then reacts perfectly fine when I move on the left side (good/normal eye side). Im pretty sure she might be blind but I don't know how! Or what to do! It doesn't seem like it has been scratched or anything but it is just so cloudy and white. She has been shutting her eyes and just wanting to go to sleep so I put her back in her sleeping box, which made her happy but now I don't know what to do in the meantime. Please help me if you have any info on this or what I should do! Thanks

 

[boskelli1571]

Hello & welcome - sorry to hear about your hen,

. You don't say how old they are, but since you know the roosters from the hens I will assume they are 'mature'. Couple of questions - do you use the deep litter method? can you smell ammonia in the coop? does she have any missing feathers?
It seems there are several causes of blindness - the most common are ammonia blindness and injury, sometimes no cause is found. If she is otherwise well and not bothered by her blindness, I would simply observe her. I'm not sure there is much to be done otherwise. I don't know if anyone here would advocate antibiotics since there doesn't seem to be an active infection.
Blind hens can do well. I have a Barred Rock that became blind at about 6-7 months - no reason, she just lost most of her sight. She comes to voice, lays well and is spoiled rotten with treats because the others push her out of the way - so I hand feed her! She is able to find the regular feeder & water pot just fine. She seems to know her limitations because she rarely ventures far from the barn. I don't move things around so as not to confuse her.
Keep us posted on her progress please!

 

[Paulagee]

Thank you so much for your help & replying!
I was so panicked I forgot to mention that she is about 2 years old. I have been doing some research & I think I have found some methods to help her for now
No, I've never used the deep litter method though and I regularly clean the coop. There is no ammonia smell that I can find and nothing is out of the ordinary. But yes she has been loosing feathers on the bottom of her, her neck and back.
But this may be from the roosters, although I try to keep her and the roosters apart because she is so small. Also she has been roosting (that may have nothing to do with it though.) but she is constantly with her eggs.
But thank you so much for all the information & I am going to keep a really good eye on her and watch for anything unusual. It may not be anything big and hopefully she will be okay soon!

 

[Eggcessive]

There can be many causes of blindness in chickens. Cataracts, injuries, infections, trauma, and Mareks disease all can be causes. Could you post a picture of the eye? Chickens with Mareks may develop a color change to gray over several days to weeks.

 

[chixwithkidz5]

I know this is an old thread but since it pertains to the problem I'm having I figured I would check and see how things are going. We recently noticed that one of our roosters we believe is blind and one eye. He now often stays to himself and doesn't seem to eat much on his own. To top it off he is a silkie so he does not have flight for balance and won't even walk up a small ramp. Wondering if anyone has any suggestions of how to make life easier for him. Thanks.

 

[Davie tembo]

There can be many causes of blindness in chickens. Cataracts, injuries, infections, trauma, and Mareks disease all can be causes. Could you post a picture of the eye? Chickens with Mareks may develop a color change to gray over several days to weeks.

How to treat them because one side blind and another side eye coming up foum

 

[Chicken_tiger_catt]

How to treat them because one side blind and another side eye coming up foum

wait, foaming eyes? that could be a sign of sinus or respiratory infection.