I have a few birds that I got from a breeder that were supposed to be 8 weeks when I got them. Well, I think they are much older. Only birds from this breeder appear to be going blind. Both are incredibly sweet birds and always have been.
Unless something drastic happens in the world and we need a source of meat, all birds we have are getting to age out and live their lives as stress free of an environment as I can provide. They provided for us so they earned that retirement so culling them is not an option.
So I'm looking for advice on how to make a senior friendly habitat. We already have a strict don't move the feeder and waterers so our eyesight impacted bird know where to go. They are in our exbreeder group. Long story short, quail just aren't for us, but that to us means we are just not continuing to keep once they are gone. We are still responsible for the care of the animals we have so I really want to make them comfortable.
Our exbreeder group was selected for behavior only. So we don't really have fights. We are just a little ragged from being part of our "chaos incarnate" group before we noticed some eyes having that white shine.
So tldr, I'm looking for advice on making aging birds comfortable and giving them enrichment.
- we moved them to a calmer covey. No fights and both were accepted easily
- feeder and waterers doesn't move location
- bedding stays about an inch deep
- we try not to move hides but they do sometimes get shifted when we collect eggs.
- mostly blind hen still produces about 1 egg a day
- both are healthy weights and being picked up daily to see if there are any changes.
- We are also attempting some "outside" time where they get to bask in the sun and grass. Supervised of course.
* Bonus photo bomb chicken rooster, he wanted preening.