Chronic Eye Bubbles in Chick?

[Wyorp Rock]

Does your vet college offer services?

I wonder if you could persuade a professor to help you run a culture to see if you can figure out if the cause is bacterial, fungal, etc. and what would be the most effective treatment to use.

Wonderful that you are going to school to learn all of this! It seems that not many vets will treat poultry, so often all that can be done is to try to treat at home.

 

[Fluffaloo]

I thought about that too. I wish we had more poultry-experienced vets at the college but they are hard to come by. I can try and see if they would be willing to look at a sample but I guess we will see. I have some equipment at home but I am not sure it would be enough for a definitive diagnosis.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

If you are able to get testing, let me know what you find out.

It's curious that the issue has been since hatch.
MG can be transmitted vertically to the embryo, but my thoughts is the chick would have developed more symptoms or failed to thrive, but who knows...could be just a very mild strain(?).

Lots of things it could be, I have no answers.

I'd still keep the eye cleaned like you are doing. He sure is a cute little thing.

 

[Fluffaloo]

I will definitely keep the thread updated Yes he is adorable, he is a paint silkie named Pierre! I didn't know that MG could transmit vertically so I guess it could be a possibility, thanks for the fact!

 

[Fluffaloo]

I still have no clue what the eye problem could be. I briefly talked to one of the pathologists at my school and they think it is unlikely to be viral or bacterial but rather a birth defect/malformation. They recommended that I test the function of the nasolacrimal duct. When I rinse with saline I have noticed that some does come out of the nostril so I would think that it is functioning but I can't be sure until I rinse with fluorescein stain. Still a mystery to me.

In addition, oddly enough I noticed that his opposite eye seems to have black splotches similar to an iris melanoma/Coloboma but it is just odd. The iris is still the golden color but blackish brown spots seem to cover it. It is not grey like Mareks or any other disease that I am aware of.

PS. He turns 8 weeks old this week and he is still the runt lol It seems like he has barely grown

 

[Wyorp Rock]

It may remain a mystery.

I agree with you, the eye coloring and shape doesn't make me think Marek's, it's more like Coloboma that I have seen in photos and threads here on BYC.
AND he's had an issue with his eye since hatch, so defect would "fit" better.

He's a cute fella!

 

[Fluffaloo]

Thanks for the reply! I agree.

He is cute though! I love him! My two Easter Eggers just adore him (they are 2 weeks younger than him) and follow him everywhere. They are an adorable trio!

 

[BastyPutt]

cockerel (dna test)

Don't mean to hijack the thread, but do you have any resources on getting this done?

 

[Fluffaloo]

https://iqbirdtesting.com/
I used IQ bird testing for my silkies and I sent in the egg shell since it is the least invasive. They also allow a blood sample though I recommend you trim a toenail just a tad bit to get some blood. I prefer blood from the nail rather than yanking a blood feather. They only need 1 drop or so.

I used the websites below for my Macaws. I did a test to see if both websites would produce the same results per macaw and they did so I trust them.

PollyGene (the pack on Amazon)

https://dnacenter.com/testing-pets-vets/bird-dna-testing/

 

[BastyPutt]

https://iqbirdtesting.com/
I used IQ bird testing for my silkies and I sent in the egg shell since it is the least invasive. They also allow a blood sample though I recommend you trim a toenail just a tad bit to get some blood. I prefer blood from the nail rather than yanking a blood feather. They only need 1 drop or so.

I used the websites below for my Macaws. I did a test to see if both websites would produce the same results per macaw and they did so I trust them.

PollyGene (the pack on Amazon)

https://dnacenter.com/testing-pets-vets/bird-dna-testing/

Wow. Thank you. Fascinating.