Milky fluid from eye

We have a flock of 13 hens: 5 black astralorps, 2 partridge rocks, 1 gold laced wynodotte, and 5 cuckoo marans. They are all about 9 1/2 mos old. All were laying well. All look healthy. None have issues running around the yard or any mobility issues or any issues that'd cause you to suspect anything wrong. This is our first time with chickens.

Egg production had dropped dramatically over the last couple of months, but we don't have lighting in the coop to extend day length- so I'm sure that's due to length of day/winter slow down.

Today while doing some chores in the coop, I noticed two of our australorps had a white milky looking substance in the corner of their eye. None of the other hens have this and I don't see any other issues. Doesn't appear to be any swelling. They can obviously see well and are very active. They are still laying. I haven't seen this before and am concerned. I searched and was unable to find this issue.

I've attached a couple of pics. Any idea what this is? How do I treat it (do I need to?)? Is it contagious? Will my other hens be affected by it? I assume there is not any issue consuming eggs from the hen while this is happening? What causes this? Anything else I should know about it? So thankful and appreciative of this forum and its members. Thanks in advance for your help!

Since its in both eyes I would suspect some type of respiratory infection. I would separate her from the flock.
You need to clean both eyes, flush them with saline and use a qtip or something similar to the infection out. Put some Vetericyn eye gel or Terramycin eye ointment in the eyes. You will need to keep them cleaned out. You may want to read up a bit on the following threads and determine if you want to use an antibiotic to treat her. Whatever you decide, adding some vitamins and electrolytes to her water won't hurt.
Hope this helps.


http://www.thepoultrysite.com/diseaseinfo/82/infectious-coryza/
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...matter-disturbing-image-warning#post_16429142
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1071718/nasty-eye-infection-pics

Wyorp Rock, thanks for the info. I'll check out the threads you posted also.

I read through all the links provided. I'm not sure if our situation is different or if we just managed to catch it long before it became that bad. If it is the same, hopefully catching it early will help.

I removed the two birds today to quarantine them in hopes that the rest of the flock wouldn't be effected. Each bird just had one eye with the white discharge. We used saline soaked Qtips to clean the discharge. It was still liquid like and not hard as those in the links above. We then flushed the eye with saline. They we also given water with electrolytes. They are still eating, drinking and acting normal. If not for the eye, you wouldn't know anything was wrong. We'll keep them separated for several days and continue to monitor and flush the eye of each hen. If we continue having the white discharge, then I guess we'll look at medicating.

Thanks for the help.

fisher_of_man said:

I read through all the links provided. I'm not sure if our situation is different or if we just managed to catch it long before it became that bad. If it is the same, hopefully catching it early will help.

I removed the two birds today to quarantine them in hopes that the rest of the flock wouldn't be effected. Each bird just had one eye with the white discharge. We used saline soaked Qtips to clean the discharge. It was still liquid like and not hard as those in the links above. We then flushed the eye with saline. They we also given water with electrolytes. They are still eating, drinking and acting normal. If not for the eye, you wouldn't know anything was wrong. We'll keep them separated for several days and continue to monitor and flush the eye of each hen. If we continue having the white discharge, then I guess we'll look at medicating.

Thanks for the help.

Click to expand...

Ok. I did make a mistake and think it was the same bird I was looking at. So you actually have two girls with this, but only in one eye. I would have still separated them, flushed the eyes and put ointment in them. It is always a possibility that they got dust, dirt, etc in their eyes or even a peck in the eye. But with two different girls, I'm not sure what the odds would be
I am hoping it is just irritation, that would be wonderful. There are so many illnesses where one of the symptoms is discharge from the eyes, it is always best to separate.
Wishing you the best!

Wyorp Rock said:

Ok. I did make a mistake and think it was the same bird I was looking at. So you actually have two girls with this, but only in one eye. I would have still separated them, flushed the eyes and put ointment in them. It is always a possibility that they got dust, dirt, etc in their eyes or even a peck in the eye. But with two different girls, I'm not sure what the odds would be

I am hoping it is just irritation, that would be wonderful. There are so many illnesses where one of the symptoms is discharge from the eyes, it is always best to separate.
Wishing you the best!

Click to expand...

thanks we appreciate it. The ointments you mentioned- are they animal/chicken medication or human meds? Are they available at places like tractor supply or feed stores? I'm guessing they're OTC and don't require a prescription from the vet?

fisher_of_man said:

thanks we appreciate it. The ointments you mentioned- are they animal/chicken medication or human meds? Are they available at places like tractor supply or feed stores? I'm guessing they're OTC and don't require a prescription from the vet?

Click to expand...

You should be able to find both at Tractor Supply.