Chicken went blind at 7 weeks

[microchick]

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Hmmmm....first picture was better for seeing what is going on in the eye. What a sweet girl.

I had my husband look at the first pic and he asked me how old the bird was. I told him young and his response was that she is too young to have that cloudy of a lens.

 

[Eggcessive]

Could the cloudy pupil be a sign of cataracts or exposure to avian encephalomyelitis? How is the coop ventilation? Is there any ammonia odor? I am no authority on Mareks disease, but the pictures seen in some of the links look much different that these. The iris color fades to gray and the iris changes to make the pupil appear smaller and irregular. @microchick , did your chickens have this same appearance to their eyes before progressing to the gray eye/irregular small pupils? Or did they have the ocular form? Thanks.

 

[microchick]

Could the cloudy pupil be a sign of cataracts or exposure to avian encephalomyelitis? How is the coop ventilation? Is there any ammonia odor? I am no authority on Mareks disease, but the pictures seen in some of the links look much different that these. The iris color fades to gray and the iris changes to make the pupil appear smaller and irregular. @microchick , did your chickens have this same appearance to their eyes before progressing to the gray eye/irregular small pupils? Or did they have the ocular form? Thanks.

No, my birds seemed to develop the green/gray iris from the start. I was looking at the first picture and seeing some green/gray changes in spots on her iris plus along with the irregular pupil.

I did find this picture doing a search.

This picture shows the same iris color as the OPs first picture but the pin point constricted pupil.

Have to admit I know little about avian encephalomyelitis. I did look it up and the OPs pullet doesn't seem to have any of the neurological symptoms that go with the disease. Just the progressive blindness.

It's a tough call. About all you can do is wait and see.

I have a picture somewhere here on BYC of one of my hens, the first to develop OMD. Sassy, a BO was a year old when she developed the 'grey eye'. Two more hens and a rooster followed. All developed the green rimmed grey iris and irregular pupil

The picture on the left, the right side image is what my Sassy's eye looked like.

 

[Birds of a Feather]

Ocular Marek’s can occur without the other symptoms of paralysis or tumors. The other chickens may not show signs if they’re vaccinated even if they’re exposed to the virus.