Bubbly eye on Buff Brahma

[3 Dozen a Week]

It's our first year with our pet chickens... so now that it's winter they are in closer proximity with each other and also we decided to do the leaf litter method in their run. Wondering what this could be and how it happened?
If it's the leaf litter causing germs to hide in it?
We have separated this Buff Brahma as soon as we noticed it, but I am also worried about how long this would need to be and if it is in fact beneficial to her immune system as I do not want to cause her more stress by being alone.
Can't afford $250 plus for an avian vet visit.
We've started treating her the since we noticed this 2 days ago with saline three times a day, but now 2 other chickens eye's are looking slighty different than normal. Their eyes have a small amount of white in the inner corner, no bubbles, just seems that the membrane part is sticking out whereas it usually doesn't. I will try and add photos of their eyes as well.
At first I thought perhaps she got pecked in the eye, and it got infected. She likes to sit by the rooster and he of course hangs out with all the hens, so I am concerned for them all if this is infectious. Food and water bowls are washed daily, but do we need to do more than this?


(That is just food on her beak.)



(other eye, for comparison)

 

[3 Dozen a Week]

 

[brandy21410]

Unfortunately this looks to be a respiratory infection, such as mycoplasma. Which can be treated with anyibiotics such as tylan 50 or denagard. However it can never be cured and birds are considered carriers.

 

[3 Dozen a Week]

Thank you for your help. This is what I was afraid of, as I had been googling.
Where are these antibiotics available from and how long do I have to treat the birds for? Do I have to treat them all in case and do I need to disinfect the coop somehow?
Do you know how this may have occurred, my children and myself have colds, although we take care of them with washed hands always?
Do I need to get rid of the leaf litter?
We have in the past been in contact with other flocks, such as the fair in the summertime, but we try and be careful to not use the same shoes etc when we are in contact with our birds.
Is it still necessary to keep the one bird separated?

 

[Eggcessive]

Some of the eyes don't look abnormal. Mycoplasma (MG) is pretty common in backyard flocks, and can be spread by wild birds, neighbor flocks, equipment, and brought in by new additions. Once it is in your flock, they are all carriers. Testing could be done to confirm it in the one chicken by contacting your state vet. Tylan 50 and 200 injectable is about the only antibiotic found in feed stores nowadays without a prescription. It can be given by injection, but I prefer to give it orally. Dosage is 0.2 ml per pound of weight of the Tylan 50, given twice a day for 5 days. Only treat those with symptoms. Tylan 200 is 4 times the strength, but may be the only one your feed store sells, such as TSC. Here is some reading about mycoplasma:
https://poultrykeeper.com/respiratory-problems/mycoplasma/
http://www.thepoultrysite.com/disea...tion-mg-chronic-respiratory-disease-chickens/

 

[brandy21410]

Thank you for your help. This is what I was afraid of, as I had been googling.
Where are these antibiotics available from and how long do I have to treat the birds for? Do I have to treat them all in case and do I need to disinfect the coop somehow?
Do you know how this may have occurred, my children and myself have colds, although we take care of them with washed hands always?
Do I need to get rid of the leaf litter? 
We have in the past been in contact with other flocks, such as the fair in the summertime, but we try and be careful to not use the same shoes etc when we are in contact with our birds.
Is it still necessary to keep the one bird separated?

Its very unfortunate, my flock is a carrier and are asymptomatic (as I have culled the ones with bad symptoms)i know in California for sure you now have to have a prescription from a vet for oral or injectable antibiotics. You can no longer buy them at the feed store. So if this is the case for you, I would try to find a vet that will help you out with that.you most likley vontracted the bacteria from decontaminates on youre clothes from visiting nrighboring flocks or from migratory birds that stop in and eat/drink from ur chicken waterers and feeders. This particular bacteria is in about 70-80% of flocks so its very hard to not become infected.

 

[brandy21410]

Some of the eyes don't look abnormal. Mycoplasma (MG) is pretty common in backyard flocks, and can be spread by wild birds, neighbor flocks, equipment, and brought in by new additions. Once it is in your flock, they are all carriers. Testing could be done to confirm it in the one chicken by contacting your state vet. Tylan 50 and 200 injectable is about the only antibiotic found in feed stores nowadays without a prescription. It can be given by injection, but I prefer to give it orally. Dosage is 0.2 ml per pound of weight of the Tylan 50, given twice a day for 5 days. Only treat those with symptoms. Tylan 200 is 4 times the strength, but may be the only one your feed store sells, such as TSC. Here is some reading about mycoplasma:
https://poultrykeeper.com/respiratory-problems/mycoplasma/
http://www.thepoultrysite.com/disea...tion-mg-chronic-respiratory-disease-chickens/

agreed treat for 5 days.

 

[brandy21410]

Thank you for your help. This is what I was afraid of, as I had been googling.
Where are these antibiotics available from and how long do I have to treat the birds for? Do I have to treat them all in case and do I need to disinfect the coop somehow?
Do you know how this may have occurred, my children and myself have colds, although we take care of them with washed hands always?
Do I need to get rid of the leaf litter? 
We have in the past been in contact with other flocks, such as the fair in the summertime, but we try and be careful to not use the same shoes etc when we are in contact with our birds.
Is it still necessary to keep the one bird separated?

and no ur colds cannot transmit to the chicken because the virus you have is not zonotic (doesnt spread amongst species).

 

[3 Dozen a Week]

This is seriously bad news,as it is our first year of having chickens and they aren't even one year old yet. We plan to keep adding to our flock, so does this mean we should cull them or how else to eradicate this? Not to mention neighbors behind have chickens and moved theirs up to our bordering fence. We thus moved in ours in October right up to our house to avoid the spread of disease etc.
I do not think I could cull ours right now , our children would be devastated, not to mention myself.
But I would sacrifice one if I knew it was to save the rest, however this does not seem the case, right?
Do I even still need to keep her separated at this point?
They all have names, yes I know, should not have allowed them to do that.
We keep them as pets and for their eggs.
Are the eggs still safe to eat?
We also have ducks but they are in a separate area, but we do wash their feeders in the same place.
I'm still concerned about the leaf litter, a friend told me she thought it sounded like bad news, but I'd read it would make good compost after winter, so we wanted to try it. The girls love to dig and scratch in it. We do not keep feed or treats in there, so there is no decaying food , only the leaves with of course some poop. We clean out the coop daily.
Is this something mice carry? Not that I have seen any evidence of mice, but we live in the country, so I am not going to kid myself that they aren't around. Our feeders and such are not generally accessed by any other birds that I know of.
Thank you again so much for your help in answering.

 

[Eggcessive]

I would just relax and take a breath because many people are dealing with the same thing. With wild birds it is impossible to keep them away from your flock. Keep the sick chicken separated, and contact your local vet and state vets to find where to get it tested. Sometimes sacrificing one to get a necropsy through the state vet might be the easiest way to get testing. Your local extension agent also may have info, since every state is different. There are vaccines for MG, and it is said by a lot of vets that no flock is completely safe from MG. Most hatcheries don't even claim to be. A good thing to do is to give probiotics or some plain yogurt on a regular basis, feed clean water and food, and have a vet check their droppings for parasites or worm them a couple of times a year.