Knowing when something is wrong with your chicken is a skill that is helpful to any chicken keeper. If you know when something is wrong with your bird then you’ll know when and how to treat your bird
This article looks into why your chicken may be standing with its eyes closed
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Chicken standing still with eyes closed:
You don’t have to interact with chickens for too long to know that these birds are quite active birds, so if the birds stop being so active you’d understandably be worried.
This article is a look into why your bird may be standing with its eyes closed.
The bird is in pain:
One of the reasons why your bird may be standing still with its eyes closed may be because the bird is in pain.
While humans may shout or scream when in pain your chickens will actually do the opposite, they will try to not show any signs of being in pain at all. This phenomenon is called the preservation reflex.
This preservation reflex doesn’t exist in all animals but it exists in chickens as it was a way to keep from being killed or attacked while still living in the wild.
If a wild chicken were to show that it was in pain or show that it was weak then this would attract predators to it.
The bird would also be pecked and even killed by its flock members because the weakness or illness would attract predators to the whole flock.
So, the other flock members would kill off the sick or weak bird. Because of this, the sick bird would try to make sure that no one around it would notice that it is in pain.
Other signs that indicate that the bird is in pain include isolating itself and not making any sounds that could attract predators or show other birds that the bird is in pain.
What to do:
This isn’t something that a chicken keeper can leave the bird to deal with, if the bird is in pain then you’d need to take action immediately.
Because these birds only start showing symptoms that something is wrong when the illness or injury is very advanced it is recommended that you take your bird to the vet where it can quickly be diagnosed and treated.
If you can’t immediately take the bird to the vet then you can isolate the bird to keep other birds away from her, until you can get the bird to the vet.
Keep the bird in a “hospital box” this may be a dog crate or a pet carrier that you isolate the bird in.
Give the bird its own food and water while in this hospital box and you can add electrolytes into the bird’s water as well.
If you enjoyed this article then you may also be interested in other bird related articles. Here are some articles that you may be interested in: Why Is My Chicken Hiding During The Day?, Chicken Hiding In A Corner, Why Is My Chicken Hiding Her Head?, Why Do Chickens Jump On Your Back?, Why Do Chickens Jump On Each Other?, Why Is My Chicken Hanging Her Head?,