Barred rock hen with one eye closed, and black speck on eyelid.

[shetan83]

Hi BYC,

I noticed that my barred rock hen keeps her right eye closed, even when she's eating or drinking. I've tried to look at a closeup of her eye, and it doesn't seem to be particularly cloudy compared to her other eye, and if I'm holding her, she'll open her eye a few times to look at me, but for the most part she keeps it closed. I think she's only started to do this in the past few days. There is a black speck on her eyelid, and I'm not sure if that's the source of her trouble.



Please excuse the bad angle of the pics. It's hard to get chickens to cooperate... And their heads move so much.

On the open eye pic, you can kind of see the black speck on her bottom eyelid. I don't remember that she had this speck before.

Does anyone know why she keeps her eye closed? If anyone wants additional information to help me figure out what the problem is, please let me know what you need. Pictures might have to wait until tomorrow as it's dark now.

Thank you all so much. I'm very worried. =(

 

[Eggcessive]

She might have a peck wound there or a lesion of fowl pox (from mosquitoes.) I can't see the speck that well in the pics. Does her eye look swollen at all or is is the same as the left eye? Look inside the eye for any bubbles or globs of mucus or worm. These could indicate respiratory disease or eyeworm, but she may just have a peck wound.

 

[16 paws]

Hi BYC,

I noticed that my barred rock hen keeps her right eye closed, even when she's eating or drinking. I've tried to look at a closeup of her eye, and it doesn't seem to be particularly cloudy compared to her other eye, and if I'm holding her, she'll open her eye a few times to look at me, but for the most part she keeps it closed. I think she's only started to do this in the past few days. There is a black speck on her eyelid, and I'm not sure if that's the source of her trouble.



Please excuse the bad angle of the pics. It's hard to get chickens to cooperate... And their heads move so much.

On the open eye pic, you can kind of see the black speck on her bottom eyelid. I don't remember that she had this speck before.

Does anyone know why she keeps her eye closed? If anyone wants additional information to help me figure out what the problem is, please let me know what you need. Pictures might have to wait until tomorrow as it's dark now.

Thank you all so much. I'm very worried. =(

Hi there, I just posted about the same thing. I have a polish that is keeping her one eye closed also.She does not have the black spec. I thought she was going blind because the last two nights we had to catch her and put her in her coop. It was almost like she was getting lost. We have only had her for about a month. She is around three months old. The other polish I got with her are the same age and they find their way back to the coop fine. I got these birds from a lady on CL. Yesterday it looked like her other eye was half closed sometimes also. I hope someone can help us. Let me know if you find out anything please.
Thanks
Marie

 

[shetan83]

Thank you for the reply. So I went back out today to check on her, and while her eye is now open, I did notice that there is a white speck in her pupil with a cloud around it.



Click to enlarge. This was the best that I could get of her eye. You can see the white speck with a sort of white cloud around it. Is this a physical wound, did something get into her eye, or something else? She seems fine otherwise, is still behaving just like all the other chickens, eating and drinking like normal.

 

[Eggcessive]

I see the white speck, but still cant' tell if it is a bubble. If it looks like a peck mark to you just use some eye ointment--erythromycin, terramycin, or neosporin will do. Here is a picture of eye bubbles (I couldn't find a decent one with just 1 bubble.) https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/796576/bubbly-eyes-no-swelling-mycoplasma-help

 

[shetan83]

There was no bubble. The surface of the eye seemed fairly smooth. The eye looks perfectly fine except for the white speck and cloud.

 

[16 paws]

There was no bubble. The surface of the eye seemed fairly smooth. The eye looks perfectly fine except for the white speck and cloud.

How is your chicken doing?

 

[Eggcessive]

It must be a peck wound. It seems to fit nothing in the books or literature about eyes. I would watch for infection. Here is a rather old but informative link for eye problems: http://www.joneshamiltonag.com/jh/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/PLT_Poultry-Eye-Disorders.pdf

 

[shetan83]

Hello all,

I checked her again today, and she's behaving like normal. Her eye is open, but I can still see the white speck with cloud. The eye is not swollen or anything. I couldn't tell if the cloud was smaller.
I checked the pdf, and her eye doesn't seem to look like any of the ones described.

If it's a peck wound, will it heal?

Thanks so much.

 

[Eggcessive]

Did you get some eye ointment? Neosporin would be good to apply. It should heal, but she might be blind in the eye. Many chickens do fine with vision in just one eye.