Hen Trouble Seeing ?

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Hi everyone

After returning home from work today i found one of my coop doors has closed up by it's self. My cream legbar hen seems to have gotten shut in while i have been at work. I checked on her & she seems to be having trouble seeing ? I gave her some food & drink tonight but had to hold it directly infront of her so she could find it ? Not sure what has happened to her as she was fine this morning when i let her out before going to work ? Does anyone know what the problem might be with her vision ? She seems to have her eye's closed up most of the time ? And randomly pecking about to try & find food & her way around etc..

I will have to see what she is like tomorrow.

Thanks for any help you can give John.
 
girlracer265 said:
could it be an eye infection ?
bathe her eyes to see if they open
Click to expand...


Thanks girlracer265. I bathed her eyes with warm water she seems to see a little bit better this morning. She's is now sitting hunched up & very quiet. She don't seem to be egg bound or anything and is pooping & eating normally. If she doesn't improve by monday i will take her to see the vet.

Thanks again for your help.

John
 
Hi John,

definitely do as girlracer suggested,keep doing it.Use cooled down,boiled water,then,you shouldn't introduce anything that may cause irritation.If possible,try and bathe/wash them at least 4x a day,more frequently wont do any harm.
Hope she's quickly completely better.
 
I took my legbar hen to my local vet & he didn't know what was the trouble. He could see that there was a problem & suggested it might be liver trouble ? He said she can just about see but there was not an eye problem. Her droppings was very greeny & runny looking. He has given me some anit-biotic's to try for now. So will have to see how that goes. Was thinking of trying to give her some NUTRI DROPS to see if that might help give her some energy ?

Thanks lydia & girlracer265 for your replies.

Kind Regards
john
 
Hi John,

Since she was inside all day, I would suspect ammonia from droppings? If ammonia levels are high then it affects the cornea in the eye. At night, her eyes would be shut. You can usually smell if ammonia levels are too high.

Check her breathing and sinuses. Many eye problems are also related to repiratory problems - Swelling of the sinuses can cause swelling and infection.

Eye drops are difficult to give because of the membrane on the eye and most eye problems like this are treated with antibiotics to control the infection.

If she is hunched with runny droppings etc then it could be something more serious internally - although don't rule out a combination of simple things because chickens tend to have a habbit of getting sick with one thing, then picking up something else that's passing at the same time.

Let us know how you get on, good luck.

Tim
 
Good luck with her John,I do hope she is fully better soon.
I have got nutri drops,and,have used them.I've found them to be beneficial,certainly seem to help the hens I've given them to.
 
Thanks for your replies Tim & Lydia.

I checked for ammonia tim & she lives by herself in her own coop & run which is really clean so no ammonia present tim. Her breathing is normal so far. No signs of heavy breathing etc..

I have this week been giving her antibiotics that the vet gave me. She is a bit more lively but still has trouble seeing. I have taken a video clip of her so you can see what i mean. Check out the youtube clip below. she has trouble seeing a small piece of lettuce.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhW6FlLujPE[/youtube]

Here is a photo of her droppings they seem pretty runny than normal ?
dropping1.jpg


I'm trying to find the best way of giving her food ? I have found she can eat lettuce if i put a whole large lettuce in front of her. Or i can get her to eat chick corn or mealworms if i hold the dish in front of her. She don't seem keen on pellets though. I'm going to try & make her a special feeder over the weekend.

She is pretty much a normal hen other than the seeing trouble. She even layed a blue egg today. I'm just hoping her vision might return after a bit. I'm still not sure what has caused the problem & have never had a bird with this problem in all the years i have kept birds/poultry.

I was wondering if she might have knocked her head on the coop door ? Could this be concussion ? as i raised the coop door open before leaving for work. But on my return home it had shut by itself ?

Thanks everyone again with your help i really appreciate it !!
regards John
 
Hi John,

I see what you mean. Very strange, I haven't seen this before but there I have a hunch and have read through some of my books. Vitamin A is needed for vision and if a chickens miss the mark when pecking my book suggests to suspect Vitamin A deficiency.
Deficiency is unlikely to occur from improper diet, more likely a health problem is causing absorbsion difficulties... Worms, or Coccidiosis for example. Blood spots in eggs can increase with Vitamin A deficiency too. When was she last wormed? Green diarrhoea is normally worms but it can be other things like too much cabbage (or lettuce??).

Could you mix 2% Cod Liver Oil into some mash with food? This is an excellent source of Vitamin A - BUT - too much Vitamin A is toxic to chickens so don't go overboard.

I am very unsure about lettuce. On the Pekin Bantams forum, a number of years ago when it was still running, there were a number of people who said Lettuce was not good for chickens because it contained Laburnum - Spelling? which made hens lethargic and reduced egg production. I haven't ever found anything on this elsewhere in any of my books so it could be wrong - but we did a little experiment (about 4 people) and all of us had a drop in egg numbers when lettuce was fed for a week. Could have been co-incidence, it's a very small sample...

Hope this gives you some ideas.
 
Hi Tim

I have tried giving her normal pellets but she will now not eat them now. So i tried corn which worked ok for a while. The reason i gave her some lettuce is i could leave it in front of her to which she was able to eat it herself without me holding it in front of her while i go to work. Where as corn etc i have to be at home & hold it under her beak before she will eat anything. I am also giving her a drink in a small dish again having to hold it under her beak.

She was wormed in February this year. I was wondering if i should try & worm her again ? As i think there might be an internal problem of some kind ?

Today she's not so good she will no longer eat much !! She will not eat corn or lettuce I have managed to get her to eat some mealworms. I was hoping that within the week her vision might start recovering. But it's now been 7 days with no improvement. She seems to now be loosing weight so i think i will have no alternative. That if she does not improve over easter i will have to put her to sleep.

I will try today to add a 2% of cod liver oil to what feed i can get her to eat thanks for that tim. But it's now not looking so good. I will give her some nutri drops to try & get her back on her food today. I will let you know how i get on. Thanks again tim for all your help.

John
 
Hi John,

OK good luck. If she was wormed in Feb, (with flubenvet) it's unlikely to be worms - unless it's tapeworm (requires stronger dose) and I believe you would see the eggs in the droppings.

It sounds to me like there is a serious underlying problem.

To your credit John, sounds like you are trying everything you can but if she is not eating now, it doesn't bode well for her...
Tim
 
Hi tim

Yep i wormed all my birds in February using flubenvet. All my other birds seem fine as normal. I have checked her droppings for worm eggs etc. But i think she might have a digestive problem etc As there are pellet shape bits in her droppings like she has not fully digested the pellets ? So perhaps she has some internal stomach trouble ? I will take her back to the vet on Wednesday & see what he suggests. I did in the end manage to get her to eat a few pellets & corn today but nothing like a normal chicken would. Thanks again for all your help i really appreciate it.

Regards John
 
John,
so sorry she isn't better :( .
After seeing your video,before reading Tim's post,I was thinking neurological problem,or a bang on the head,that has caused a slight swelling in her brain.
I suspect Tim is closer to what is wrong though.Vitamin A in a large enough dose is harmfull to most birds and mammals.Pregnant woman avoid it as it increases miscarriages or something nasty.
If she can't /wont touch mash with cod liver oil,try a tiny piece of raw liver.As maybe something soft and bloody will be more appetising.I realise liver is gross,but,your local butcher might give you a tiny piece rather than charge you,if not,be out when your wife cooks it for tea ;) .
I am sorry that she isn't better.
 
John,
I think we've all got our fingers crossed for you.
Let us know how things pan out.
Good luck.
 
Hi John if she has eye probs and is generally unwell have you considered Mareks -this can produce occular tumours ,eyes can appear cloudy ,seem to have changed colour or irregular pupils?----just an idea, hope she perks up.Ros
 
Thanks everyone

She did not eat much today just some corn & a few pellets. I will try some mash tomorrow & will keep the liver tip in mind lydia thanks for that. It's hard to check her eyes as she keeps them closed all the time now. I think you could be correct Ros it could be Mareks ? I will try & check her eyes tomorrow. I was also wondering if it might be "Lymphoid Leucosis" ? Thanks again for the help everyone i really do appreciate it !!

Regards John
 
My own thoughts on this John are that most of our flocks carry the viruses for Mareks,Leukosis etc even if birds do not develop the disease.I also wonder how many unexplained deaths are related to these.Other opinions welcome! Ros
 
Yep i think it looks like more & more like Mareks,Leukosis. I will have no option but to put her down as she is now extremely weak & will not eat anything or drink anything today. I found some red small lumps around her vent now as well.

Thanks everyone for your help.

Regards John
 
So sorry John, but, I am sure you are doing absolutely the right thing for her. Ros
 
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