one eyed chicken !

Hi,

One of our 4 hens started closing one eye regularly ...doesnt appear to have the best vision ...she is able to lay/feed take on water and looks very healthy all in all ....there is no infection or pus in the eye ... but she seems to want to close the eye most of the time.

No obvious discomfort and its been 3 weeks since it started happening .....but anyone had anything similar ?

Cheers

Hello,

There are several possible causes for your hen’s symptoms. She could be suffering from Respiratory Disease(please click on 'respiratory disease' to be taken to our article which will provide you with a list of symptoms) or something much less severe such as an infection or damage to the eye. If her symptoms don’t seem to be getting any worse, and she seems happy and healthy you could wait to see what happens. It could be that the muscles around her eyes have weakened and not really causing much discomfort to her.

Do you know how old she is? It is always difficult to work out the exact cause of your hen’s problem without seeing her. If you are worried or your hen begins to deteriorate, goes off her food or her eye starts to weep etc then we would advise that you take her to your vet.

We hope this helps, please do write back if you have any further questions.

Best Wishes,
Chicken Vet