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[alet_chicken]

One of my hens, Madge, has a longstanding problem with her right eye. The pupil has always been smaller than in her left, but recently the eye has been clouding over.

 

Here is a picture of her normal-looking left eye:

 

And here is a picture of her right eye:

Notice how misshapen the pupil is.

 

I always thought she could see with it, but we tested her last night after taking these photos (wagging a finger in front of each eye), and now I'm not sure she has vision in that eye at all. There are some more pictures in a previous post here; these are about a year old.

 

She seems fine in herself apart from the eye problem. She is laying well, and very flighty (which is why we had to take these pictures at night).

 

I am not sure what is wrong with her eye, and whether there is anything that can be done about it. Has anybody seen anything similar to this? Any advice would be welcome.

[Egluntyne]

I doubt anything could be done tbh. It will be the result of injury, infection or congenital anomaly. If it isn't bothering her, I'd leave well alone.

[craftyhunnypie]

Hi - that's not the marek's disease look is it? Someone more knowing than me should be able to clarify this.

Emma.x

[Egluntyne]

No, it isn't, and it is a long standing thing, so Marek's is very unlikely.

[alet_chicken]

Thanks Egluntyne for the confirmation.

 

Funny, when I first noticed it, I had a big panic about Marek's ... but it can't be, for the reasons Egluntyne gave.

[craftyhunnypie]

Thanks for clearing that up & sorry to cause any alarm! Phew!

 

Emma.x

[sandyhas3chucks]

slightly irrelevant, but I have an ex bat with an eye removed. It was in a horrible state, she had to be fostered for 3 weeks until she was well enough for an operation.

apart from 2 of my monsters being really mean, (she is twice the size of them and ever so sweet) she copes just fine, and I have just heard of a second eye removal.

(hope this is reassuring should the need arrive!)

[alet_chicken]

Thanks, that's reassuring to know.

 

I was a bit worried when I discovered that she can't see out of that eye, but obviously she has lived with this for some time and is coping well enough. Despite being the smallest hen in the flock by far, she is very high in the pecking order and has no problem telling her "underlings" what's what. This includes 2 evil kanievil marans who must weigh about twice as much as her.

 

She does tend to hang back a bit when the others scrum around the treat plate. But then I always save some treats for the hangers-back (two of my ex-batts are really shy), so maybe that's a conscious strategy...