Rooster with cloudy pupils

[theGrizzFan]

The chickens have never ben exposed to others since we picked them up at the hatchery when they were a couple of days old. Their coop has not been used by other animals or birds, it was a large shed that we cleaned up before putting them in it a couple of months ago and they have a good sized fenced in area. They are fed commercial feed and we have no close neighbors, so if they were exposed it had to be by song birds that may have come in casual contact with them. The hen with both cloudy eyes seems to not be totally blind, as she eats well and jumps up to the roost every night. I think she has become adept at responding to the other chickens noises when eating and roosting. The roosters eye seems to be blind though, as he does not respond to any movement from that side, and will always cock his head to favor his good eye. We have one other hen that changed at about three months of age, her spine curved and she has a bit of a hunch back now. Figured it wasn't connected but you never know. All eat and behave very well, and have great dispositions.
Their cloudy eyes aren't exactly like the picture above. The cloudy part is centered in the pupil and looks to be in it. Aside from that they act like perfect backyard chickens.
Thanks for responding.

 

[realsis]

Im Not at all Saying your rooster has Marek's disease but just so you will know Marek's disease is an airborne disease and does not necessarily have to be brought in by another chicken. It can travel in the air. I know people who never added new birds to there flock yet suffered from Marek's outbreak. It can actually travel miles through the air alone. Just so you know. I hope this helps and best wishes.

 

[bambamsdad]

The rooster I mentioned in this thread has what I believe is ocular mareks after trying many remedys to no avail 1 eye is blind other he can still see shadows. Conjunctivits causes this also high ammonia content in the coop. Mareks vaccine in my experience stops tumors from forming and doesn't seem to stop the other symptoms. It also is not 100% percent effective. Try calling your local vet to see if they have something for inflammation to try first but with the blindness coming on so fast I would guess ocular mareks.

 

[seminolewind]

The chickens have never ben exposed to others since we picked them up at the hatchery when they were a couple of days old. Their coop has not been used by other animals or birds, it was a large shed that we cleaned up before putting them in it a couple of months ago and they have a good sized fenced in area. They are fed commercial feed and we have no close neighbors, so if they were exposed it had to be by song birds that may have come in casual contact with them. The hen with both cloudy eyes seems to not be totally blind, as she eats well and jumps up to the roost every night. I think she has become adept at responding to the other chickens noises when eating and roosting. The roosters eye seems to be blind though, as he does not respond to any movement from that side, and will always cock his head to favor his good eye. We have one other hen that changed at about three months of age, her spine curved and she has a bit of a hunch back now. Figured it wasn't connected but you never know. All eat and behave very well, and have great dispositions.
Their cloudy eyes aren't exactly like the picture above. The cloudy part is centered in the pupil and looks to be in it. Aside from that they act like perfect backyard chickens.
Thanks for responding.

If you picked them up from the hatchery a few days old and never had contact with other birds, I would be looking for something treatable other than Marek's. The birds' history sounds unlikely that they have Marek's. I'm no expert, but aside from having a necropsy, no one can be sure if you have it or not. In my opinion, symptoms are one thing, but a history is important as well. For example, I only bought one chicken that I didn't hatch myself or get from a hatchery. She was the one who brought it in.

I could see birds carrying it, but they would have to get it from somewhere. Like if someone down the street had chickens with Marek's, the birds could carry it to your property. But I doubt that a bird would carry it from miles away.

Just think about where they could have logically gotten it from, or not. You might want to look into some eye infection that's going around. And I would be giving them vitamins.

 

[theGrizzFan]

We noticed that two more are getting slightly cloudy looking pupils (sounds like a weather report). This afternoon we left to pick up some vitamins to add in their water when I remembered there was somone about eight miles away that sold eggs so my wife and I figured we would ask him if he might know anything about it. He was very nice, showed us his flock and we gabbed for awhile. I mentioned the local brand of feed that we were giving them and he told us that he had problems with his chickens when he used that brand. He switched and his problems stopped. He didn't get into the exact nature of what the "problems" were, other than they were different from ours. I didn't press him on it and he went on to talk about his other animals and I forgot to ask him about the specifics.
From what I have read about Mareks it effects the iris, and that is not the problem here. We picked up vitamins & electrolytes made by Durvet for multiple animals and will start with that in the morning. Monday we will try a different brand of feed.

Thanks for the replies.

 

[bambamsdad]

If your chicks were vaccinated I would say most are probably safe it is my experience that mareks doesn't follow the rules. Can you smell ammonia in your coop when first opened? If so concentration maybe very high when confined causing conjuctivitus (inflammation). Avoidance of sunlight is a telltale sign of this which you mentioned before. It has been my experience also that mareks usually affects birds in different ways some go blind, some paralysis, etc. Not same symptoms for all birds which sounds like is happening here. Try google or bing for cloudy eyes in poultry as a lot of the universities have some good info. U of Florida has a decent disease chart. Thanks for updating if you figure it out let us know always looking for solutions and things we may have over looked.

 

[theGrizzFan]

Chickens are in a large shed with a sliding screened window and a large (about 5 feet wide) door that is left open during the day so they can go in and out when they please. There is also a small "chicken door" for days when the weather is bad and we leave the big door closed. They have a good sized fenced in area. I have never noticed any ammonia odor and don't think it would be likely with the amount of ventilation they have. There is no inflammation or signs of any discomfort. They look and behave normal with the exception of the cloudy pupils.
I'm thinking that although we are using a commercial feed, it may still be a vitamin deficiency. Monday we plan on going to the hatchery for other ideas and any information that they might pass on.

Thank you for the reply.

 

[theGrizzFan]

We brought two of the four chickens that have the cloudy eyes to the vets. The vet was skeptical that they had cataracts as he had never heard of chickens getting them, and when animals do get them, they are usually older. After a very good examination they do in fact have cataracts. He was rather amazed that not only did 5 month old chickens have cataracts, but so many of them - 3 of 12 hens and 1 of 2 roosters, so far. He believes it was from hereditary conditions as the chickens were in otherwise excellent health. He refused to charge us and was thankful that we brought them in. We were just as thankful, and grateful of his kindness.
We then went to the hatchery again. We had went there yesterday and informed them of the situation and the girl behind the counter advised us to ask the dept. of agriculture and gave us directions to their building. We followed the directions but the only building there was environmental conservation. We asked someone there if they knew of the ag dept. and he was sure that there wasn't one around there. On the way home we saw the vet office and made todays appointment.
Anyway, after the vet appt. today I told the girl what the vet had told us. She brought up Mareks but I told her that it was not Mareks and they had been vaccinated so it was not only unlikely, but the percentage of effected chickens made it almost impossible, not to mention that the vet was sure it wasn't as well. I had the feeling that she was afraid that I was going to flip out or something so I made sure to let her know that I was there as a courtesy, as I thought their company was a fine one and believed that they would be interested in this case as it was uncommon. I left my name and number with her to pass on to her boss. I do have to admit that I expected them to be a little more concerned about the situation.
I did find out that in 1991 a Brahma flock of 200 had cataracts in 69% of their cockerels and 15% of their pullets by the time they were 6 months of age. It was concluded that it was a hereditary defect. Our birds are a much smaller sample of course, 12 pullets and 2 cockerels, but the percentages and ages are rather close. Our birds are 5 months old, 25% of hens are effected and 50% of the cockerels. Ours have had excellent living conditions, are all otherwise very healthy, and have never come in contact with other chickens since leaving the hatchery at a couple of days old.
I was thinking of starting another thread and including pictures so if others have this happen it just might help them.

 

[bambamsdad]

Thank you for updating, if possible could you ask this vet if anything can be done ? I was reading about cataracts and steroids to reduce them but this was human eyes just wondering if they may know of something that may be of use in the animal world. Thanks

 

[theGrizzFan]

He pointed out that the eyes make fluid that gets released when the eyes are not dilated, and cataracts often keeps the eyes dilated because it blocks the light from coming in, causing this fluid to build up making the cataract eye bulge from the pressure. I wanted to ask him more questions but when he said "No charge" I wanted to get rolling before he changed his mind, er..., I mean, I didn't want to take advantage of his kind gesture.