Chick with sunken, “shifted”, and watery ey

[Jaybird1296]

One of my buff Orpingtons has an odd eye. It’s not a birth defect because it was in perfect condition when I bought it over a month ago.

The eyeball itself is sunken and shifted out of alignment from it’s original position. The bottom lid is slightly droopy and there’s water accumulating in the space between the bottom lid and eyeball. It keeps closing the eye while keeping the healthy one open.

What could this be?

 

[SmiYa0126]

@Wyorp Rock @azygous @Eggcessive please help!

can you post a better picture, need more light.

 

[Kiki]

Welcome.
Are any other birds showing anything similar with their eyes?
Have you noticed anybody sneezing?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

One of my buff Orpingtons has an odd eye. It’s not a birth defect because it was in perfect condition when I bought it over a month ago.

The eyeball itself is sunken and shifted out of alignment from it’s original position. The bottom lid is slightly droopy and there’s water accumulating in the space between the bottom lid and eyeball. It keeps closing the eye while keeping the healthy one open.

What could this be?

Welcome To BYC

Hard to know what's causing that, perhaps it's respiratory infection like Mycoplasma, but possibly she's gotten something in the eye or suffered injury from a peck or poke.

General care is to flush/rinse the eye with saline, take a good look in the eye to see if there's anything in the eye, remove debris and/or press out any pus. Apply an eye ointment like Terramycin in the eye.

If symptoms worsen or if you notice coughing/sneezing, facial swelling, lethargy, etc. then seeking vet care would be best. Sometimes that's not an option, so if you need to worsening infection or symptoms from home, then you can try Tylosin to see if that helps.

Here's some reading about poultry diseases: https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/PS044

 

[azygous]

I believe the anomalies you're seeing with this chicken's eye are due to the inflammation and subsequent swelling of the eye tissues. Whether this began with some dirt and bacteria getting into the eye or if it was a pecking injury that introduced bacteria and inflammation into the eye, I would treat it initially as a localized eye infection just as @Wyorp Rock advises above - saline rinse and antibiotic ointment twice a day. If the infection becomes more than just localized, and progresses to swelling of the facial tissue and discharge from eyes and nares, then I would progress to treating it as a CRD, chronic respiratory disorder using an antibiotic that targets CRDs- Tylosin.

 

[SmiYa0126]

Thank you!

 

[Eggcessive]

I would probably go ahead with Tylosin powder in the water (1 tsp per gallon or 1/4 tsp per quart) for 5 days in case of mycoplasma (MG) a chronic respiratory disease that causes conjunctivitis and sinus infection. Many bring it into their flocks by adding chickens from other people’s flocks. It is also spread through the hatching eggs sometimes. Here is where to get Tylosin without a prescription:
https://jedds.com/products/tylosin-powder

Here is an article about MG:
https://extension.umd.edu/sites/ext... Mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG) Infecti....pdf