My blind hen, Hildy February 15, 2013
I’ve sort of hesitated writing about Hildy, my blind hen. Why? I get emotional about her. Of all the chickens I’ve had, she was one of my absolute favorites. She died a little more than a year ago. But I was looking through some old photographs, and I made it through without crying, so maybe it’s time.
Hello, Hildy. Our blind hen was a speckled sussex; you can see in this photo that her right eye was sightless
We don’t think Hildy was a completely blind hen; rather, she was mostly blind. We’re not entirely sure about the extent to which she had sight. She seemed to have some ability to distinguish light and see shapes. She could eventually find us when we called her name. But discerning light and dark: that was probably about it. She often ran into things, and often missed the feeder as she tried to access food.
As a chick, she was normally sighted. At a few months old, perhaps three or four, she received an injury. We’re not sure how; she may have been pecked in the eye. The loss of her sight dropped her to the bottom of the pecking order; she couldn’t see attacks coming, so she had no way to avoid them. And because of her sightlessness, she often instigated pecking from other hens accidentally by simply walking straight into them. Poor Hildy.
During her long recovery, I used to go out to the coop three or four times a day and stand watch over her while she ate and drank. I wanted to make sure she was getting plenty and that she had some unmolested time at the feeders and waterers. Eventually, she began to anticipate my visits and run to my feet (or the general vicinity) when she heard me come in.
Because of the special attention she received, she became extra friendly. She loved being picked up, and settled comfortably into the arms of strangers. In fact, she was one of the hens who always won people over to chickens. To begin with, she had her beautiful speckled plumage…
She couldn’t know how pretty she was!
and she simply had no fear of people. She loved being touched, and if she wasn’t given enough attention and petting for her liking, she would stand on your feet until she got it.
Just stand there, pressing her body against your leg.
Her injury took a long while to heal, and she never recovered her sight. But she was able to reintegrate herself into the flock, at least to a certain extent, and she was a champion layer once she got started.
Next week, I’ll share another story about our blind hen Hildy if there’s enough interest (let me know in the comments!). In the meantime, please also share any stories about special needs hens you have.
Oh, I loved this story, please tell us more about Hildy! I don’t actually have any chickens yet, but some day maybe.
More about Hildy please.
Lovely story. I have a very special Speckled Sussex…she was one of three I bought as chicks and the other two were lost tragically when they blew into the duck pond in a storm and drowned. She’s my special little girl. Look forward to hearing more about Hildy.
That’s a wonderful story. I would have done the same thing & would love to hear more. Most of my critters chickens, cats, rabbit, & horse I ended up with because they could no longer be cared for or I found. Now I love chickens & have fallen in love with them. Looking in to some more here in the next month. I have 13 now.
I have a special hen, too. I call her Snaggle. Thanks for the story!
LOVED this story….we have just 4 chickens, they are our pets. They each have names and a personality all thier own. I would love to read more about sweet Hildy
Oh! This is a beautiful story!! I’m sharing this!
We also had a blind bird…sadly gone now, an Eastern Wild turkey named Tina. She came to us as a trio of rescues from a neighbour who didn’t want to care for them anymore. Same thing, no idea how she was injured, but went blind about a year after we got her.
The amazing thing about Tina was not that she survived, but that she thrived and had several clutches of chicks before she died. Several of our buff orphington hens took her “under their wing”so to speak, and would guide her around all day-leading her to the water, scratching at tiny morsels in the dirt and clucking like they had a giant chick to teach and protect. When another bird tried to bully her-they would drive them off.
No matter what anyone says, these animals have a soul, create family bonds and have compassion!! I love these creatures!!
Please tell us more. I have a chicken who is limp. She was like that the moment she hatched. She always needed extra attention and we are still giving it to her.She has the cuttest button eyes and she is very verbal. Please continue sharing these stories.
I never knew how sweet and smart chickens were until we had them. It is always a sad day when we lose one. And now we are raising “meat” chickens. I can’t even tell you how hard I am trying NOT to fall in love with all of them.
Love hearing about your special needs hens. We have 3 one-eyed chickens (Captain Jack, Solomon & Jackie). These babies were blinded after surviving MG. They have returned to our flock & are happy & thriving. Our molded houdan, Jermaine, walks with a limp due to string injury (had wrapped around his foot & got infected). He’s doing great & just skips along with the others). ChiChi is a sweet hen that was born with crippled legs. She lives in her own coop with her roommate, Campfire. They do great & are terribly spoiled!
We just want our feather babies to be happy regardless of their special needs!
more, please!
Thanks for this story. I have a special needs Red Silkie who has a crooked beak. She is at the bottom of the pecking order too. My husband is a vet who, dutifully, files it down so she is able to eat and drink, but we look out for her. She’s almost a year old.
How lovely to think of the great life she had despite her differences. We have a hen in isolation and she’s become very attentive and affectionate. Yes please do write more about your beloved Hildy.
I have a lopsided rooster who has optioned respiratory issues due to being mis-shapen. He is the sweetest thing though and I am so happy to have him.
I would love to hear more, I have a partially sighted chicken her name is Liza Minelli (no kidding) and she’s just so sweet
More about Hildy! We have a brown leghorn who can no longer walk. I think she may have a blood clot or tumor on her spine? She doesn’t lay anymore, but she eats, drinks and hangs out with us like she’s just in sitting mode all the time. We keep her inside with us and put her out on warm days to sit in the sun and keep her a bottom clean and ruffle her feathers for her since she doesn’t preen that much. She scoots around using her wings like arms when she wants to move around some and she can stretch her legs out, just can’t stand… Is it wrong to keep her alive when she seems to want to live?
wonderful story!!! I want to hear more. Of all my chickens, our Speckled Sussex is my absolute fave! She’s also the “boss” of all, even the Rooster! He doesn’t get marital rights LOL.
A nice story! Chickens are wonderful pets and I would love to hear more about Hildy! What a sweetie!
I enjoyed reading the story about Hildy, and would love to read more about her. I also have a blind Speckled Sussex, Whirly, and it was just like reading about my Whirly. I believe that Ocular Marek’s is the reason for her blindness unfortunately. She had a Buff Orp friend who would lead her around and be her ‘eyes’, but she now seems to get around well on her own. She will stand on feet if she feels that she isn’t getting enough attention, and is a big friendly bird.
Wonderfully touching story. Please do share more about Hildy!
I loved reading about your Hildy, thanks for sharing. I have an OEGH bantam named Petunia who is blind in one eye and she’s a sweetie too and loves human interaction and somehow manages to be a respected member of my small flock of five even though she is only one of two bantams. I think it helped her some that her sister Lily is very bossy and always somehow is enamored with her. Who knows? Either way speciall needs pets are just special in our heart and know and love the special attention we give them.
I’d love to hear more about Hildy.
Though not a chicken I do have a special needs dog. Her name is Sophie and she is an 8 year old blind Bassett hound. Sophie lost her sight 4 years ago when she got into a bag of candy corn flavored Hershey kisses. Her eyes turned white and we had to rush her to New Hampshire for treatment (we live in Maine). They said that she had Glaucoma (of which we had no idea) and the high fat content in the kisses aggravated her glaucoma. She needed surgery to remove one eye and have a shunt placed in the other. Unfortunately she was allergic to the material the shunt was made out of and had to have her other eye removed because shunts are only made out of one kind of material. But 4 years later she is doing great. I always say she gets in more trouble now than she did when she had eyes. It is amazing how they can adapt when they lose their sight. I swear Sophie can smell a crumb a mile away and can hear an ant fart underground (LOL). Please share more stories about Hildy.
if she wants to live is not wrong. I have one that have to umputed her leg due to a bad infection. She is doing real good i keep her in the house and take out in the grass on sunny days, she loves to be held and love. Her name is Lady Gaga and she knows when i get home and talks and sings and makes a sound when she wants to be pick up. Love her so much, it took a year to get to this point but it was worth it.
Lovely story and so bittersweet. Please share more!
Loved your story. I have one chicken with one eye and another one with deformed feet. We love them and they find their way even with their disabilities.
Very nice story.
That was a great story and I’d love to read the rest of it! I have a hen that has one eye that is ‘damaged’ (part of her eyelid is missing), and even though I made sure to hold and pet all of my girls (6), she clearly is the friendliest and falls asleep in your arms when you hold her.
I look forward to hearing more about Hildy : )
Yes, please. More about Hildy.
Your Hildy is so lovely; I admire the beautiful Sussex plumage and Hildy is such a brave girl! The story you told is very touching.
I so enjoy your blog. A pet chicken is not in my future, unfortunately; but I live vicariously though your photos, stories, and information about chickens.
Thanks, Marilyn
I have a blind chicken too! Her name is Taylor (we call her Tay-Tay) This story could easily be about her. The other chickens pecked her eyes and she can’t see anymore…only light/dark contrast. has trouble seeing food so she is mainly hand-fed. She is the sweetest bird in the world and SO smart! She just can’t see
( She is back in the coop with the other birds now but is at the very bottom of the pecking order. I give her plenty of places to “hide” to avoid further injuries. I LOVE my special needs girl 
)
I love this story about Hildy. I too have a blind chicken. She was born without eyes, and we have had her since she was one day old. It took many hours of nurturing to get her through the first several weeks, but she is almost 1 year old and doing well. She lives in a flock of eleven and so far there have been no problems. I think all creatures deserve a chance to live a happy life. Helena is definitely is the sweetest chicken I have. I can’t wait to hear more about Hildy.
Awwwwwwwwwwwwwww I had a blind chicken too. Her hame was Precious. I would love to hear more about your Hildy.
Great story, I have a silkie rooster the grandkids have named rainbow limps has since I bought him. The story reminded me of him. Please tell more I really enjoyed the story.
Loved the story about Hildy. My chicks are just about 2 months & I’m thoroughly enjoying watching their personalities develop.
Love the story of Hildy..I am a first time chicken owner. I absolutely love my chics. I have never enjoyed something as much. Thanks for sharing your story.
What a hen! -sigh-
Thank you so much for sharing your story of Hildy! It really touched me deeply. We have 3 rhode island reds and 2 buff orpingtons that were raised together and are just wonderful…we would do anything for them! Our basset hound, Humphrey lost one eye from glaucoma but has adapted well to having sight in only one eye. It’s amazing how well a handicapped pet can do when given the love and support they need!!
Fantastic to hear about Hildy and her life. What amazes me is how most people think chickens are stupid and have no personality. Stories like these explain exactly how wrong they are. Please finish the story. Would love to hear how wonderful a life Hildy led………