WTHeck is wrong with my hen's eye?? HEAVY PICS- graphic

Ok everyone.. After noticing my hen had an "irritated" eye for quite a few weeks I decided to do something about it. She didn't have any other cold symptoms just a watery eye. Tonight I picked her up and looked really closely, poking at it and realized that she had a hard "lump" where her third eye lid hides when not in use.

Found some answers here but no one is certain what is really wrong with the chickens having this issue.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/88035/swollen-eye-my-hen-needs-some-help-pics

I took some very specific pictures with hopes that someone can answer us and help put a name with this and let me know if it is contagious, recurring or dangerous to anyone other than my irritated hen.

This is Patty. She is a Lavendar Orp about 8 months old. Already laying but had been on a break lately.

Noticed a half-closed, slightly watery eye for several weeks. This is a before picture of the bad eye. NOTE: though it is closed in the picture she usually didn't have it closed in the yard.



Her good side



Head on to show the slight swelling on the left



Eye held open to see the "mass" under her lid. Without the third lid over, her eye looks normal



After some soaking with saline and massaging and proding with paper towels and q-tips I was able to get this out from under the lid



Is this just calcified infection? She is totally fine except for this. Ate some mealworms right after.. How can I (we) prevent this in the future?

Thank you for your help! If you have any other questions about this let me know. I will do my best to help

I'll bet your hen feels a lot better! Don't know what caused this, but I did read one time (somewhere on BYC) that in chickens, pus is firm and has a cheese-like consistency. Perhaps a small eye infection, now healed, but the plug of pus got stuck in the eye? Thanks for sharing pics. It may help others some day.

That is pretty gross but I'm glad she's ok. You're a good chicken mommy, Jess.

~Barbara

I just had to do the same to my chicken's eye...what the HECK is this!???!!!
anybody know?

I never figured it out but unfortunately she died a few days later

I had a cochin rooster that had the same problem. It was a form of sinus infection. Both eyes were affected althou the one side of his head would swell. Named him Popeye because of it. We treated with an antibiotic cream and Tylan 50.
Ended up taking him to an avian vet for treatment and he removed several pieces that looked like half peanuts. He did not think it was contagious but had not seen anything like it either. Because this condition continued even with the meds, we culled the rooster.
In the pictures you see the better eye with swelling below the eye

The worst eye before the vet treated him..obvious swelling which included the top of his head.

wanted to bump this thread......needed to try again to get someone to tell what this is, just cleaned a HUGE hunk of junk from my favorite little ones eye...worried

Had the same issue with a BR roo. Started out as a sinus infection (dust in the coop). Kept the eye clean but it still became infected even with antibiotics, he lost the eye and had to be culled eventually.

I have a seabright that I have removed a large rubbery, yellow mass from inside her left eye with extensive manipulation on 2 occasions, probably 6 months apart. She is completely normal, about 6 months out from the most recent manipulation, but I have a feeling that I will end up doing this operation again.

So no one has any advice on what this is or how to treat it? My babes died last year from this...... so confusing! I wonder if it's still such a new disease that if it isn't man made like from spoiled or accidentally tainted feed etc. ?