Bulging eye!

[Miriah132]

I picked up this girl for free today from a person who wouldn’t be able to help her. Her eye has been bulging like this since she was a week old and she’s 17 weeks now, no other symptoms, just the eye. The previous owner took her to the vet and they tried some drops but when they didn’t work the vet said surgery to remove it is the only other option. Have any of you had this done? Or does anyone have a chicken who has lived with something like this? She doesn’t seem in pain and is thriving other than it. Shes definitely blind in it!

 

[hogslayer]

I picked up this girl for free today from a person who wouldn’t be able to help her. Her eye has been bulging like this since she was a week old and she’s 17 weeks now, no other symptoms, just the eye. The previous owner took her to the vet and they tried some drops but when they didn’t work the vet said surgery to remove it is the only other option. Have any of you had this done? Or does anyone have a chicken who has lived with something like this? She doesn’t seem in pain and is thriving other than it. Shes definitely blind in it!

I had one like that I gave her antibiotics and it went away. But I'm a new chicken owner I may have just gotten lucky

 

[Eelantha]

Is it her eye that's bulging like this, or her eyelid? Cuz when I look at it it looks like an abces. I know it might sound silly, but one of my own past hens had an abces at the eye, and it looked alot like yours, except mine was due to a respiratory virus. I thought her eyelid had swollen due to whatever was ailing her, but the abces ruptured one day, once the pus was out she had looked alot better and less swollen, plus she could somewhat see again from her supposedly blind eye. That's just my own experience though.

 

[Miriah132]

Is it her eye that's bulging like this, or her eyelid? Cuz when I look at it it looks like an abces. I know it might sound silly, but one of my own past hens had an abces at the eye, and it looked alot like yours, except mine was due to a respiratory virus. I thought her eyelid had swollen due to whatever was ailing her, but the abces ruptured one day, once the pus was out she had looked alot better and less swollen, plus she could somewhat see again from her supposedly blind eye. That's just my own experience though.

No it’s definitely her eye. She can open her eyelids fine but the whole eyeball is bulging out

 

[Eelantha]

No it’s definitely her eye. She can open her eyelids fine but the whole eyeball is bulging out

Hmm... your hen is a very puzzling case xD I have never head of a bulging eye in a chicken before. Since she started having it one week after being born instead of day 1, maybe it's a severe mineral deficiency to her young age that caused her eye to swell out like this? Or an inward infection of the eye? Otherwise, if her blood samples show nothing wrong at all, then ultimately, it might just be a genetic abnormally, so breeding her isn't a good idea. Since your bird seems fine otherwise, maybe it's best to let her be a chicken like everyone else, though naturally keeping a close watch over her eye to make sure it's not growing even larger or starting to make her uncomfortable.

But, it might just be something as silly as a mineral imbalance. As I said I've never heard of a chicken with a swollen eye before, much less have enough experience with them to say with confidence what yours might have, but to me, if the swollen eye is not an eyelid abces or a virus, then it's either an inward infection (in which case the eye would be sensible to touch, but your hen's seems fine), a mineral imbalance (what sort I have no idea) or a genetic abnormally. Too much consanguinity might have left your hen with a slightly smaller eye socket cavity than normal, and as she grew the eye grew out of it to hang half-way outside. Your guess is as good as mine on what could have caused your hen to look like this

 

[microchick]

Questions. When you pry her eyelids open how does her eye look? Is the Iris (the colored part) clear or does it look red/green/grey . Her conjunctiva. Is it white or red. The pupil (the black part) is it dilated or pinpoint? Is it perfectly round or irregular shaped.

The reason I ask is because there is a reason she is keeping her eye closed. The eye is painful or sensitive to light.

I have ocular Marek's in my flock. It's latest victim is a pretty and friendly Buff O/Welsummer cross hen who presented with a swollen eye that she kept closed. DH who is a retired eye doctor looked at her eye for me and said it was a herpes infection Herpes can cause a uveitis that can cause the swelling in the eye. It is quite painful. Her eye at the onset of the infection was a deep blue color, almost black that faded into the classic Marek's grey eye.

I sincerely hope it isn't Ocular Marek's but it is a possibility and if it is your whole flock has been exposed.

Here is a picture of one of my hens with ocular Marek's disease. You can see while she has her eye open, the eye it'self appears to be bulging.

This is a textbook example of Ocular Marek's. Grey colored Iris with irregular shaped pupil.

There is no lab work or treatment for the disease if that is what she has. When one of my birds has symptoms, I keep the eye lubricated with an otc eye moisturizing drop like Refresh and if they seem to be in pain, I give them a baby aspirin.

Usually people diagnose the OC just by symptoms and the appearance of the Iris and Pupil.

 

[Miriah132]

Hmm... your hen is a very puzzling case xD I have never head of a bulging eye in a chicken before. Since she started having it one week after being born instead of day 1, maybe it's a severe mineral deficiency to her young age that caused her eye to swell out like this? Or an inward infection of the eye? Otherwise, if her blood samples show nothing wrong at all, then ultimately, it might just be a genetic abnormally, so breeding her isn't a good idea. Since your bird seems fine otherwise, maybe it's best to let her be a chicken like everyone else, though naturally keeping a close watch over her eye to make sure it's not growing even larger or starting to make her uncomfortable.

But, it might just be something as silly as a mineral imbalance. As I said I've never heard of a chicken with a swollen eye before, much less have enough experience with them to say with confidence what yours might have, but to me, if the swollen eye is not an eyelid abces or a virus, then it's either an inward infection (in which case the eye would be sensible to touch, but your hen's seems fine), a mineral imbalance (what sort I have no idea) or a genetic abnormally. Too much consanguinity might have left your hen with a slightly smaller eye socket cavity than normal, and as she grew the eye grew out of it to hang half-way outside. Your guess is as good as mine on what could have caused your hen to look like this

Questions. When you pry her eyelids open how does her eye look? Is the Iris (the colored part) clear or does it look red/green/grey . Her conjunctiva. Is it white or red. The pupil (the black part) is it dilated or pinpoint? Is it perfectly round or irregular shaped.

The reason I ask is because there is a reason she is keeping her eye closed. The eye is painful or sensitive to light.

I have ocular Marek's in my flock. It's latest victim is a pretty and friendly Buff O/Welsummer cross hen who presented with a swollen eye that she kept closed. DH who is a retired eye doctor looked at her eye for me and said it was a herpes infection Herpes can cause a uveitis that can cause the swelling in the eye. It is quite painful. Her eye at the onset of the infection was a deep blue color, almost black that faded into the classic Marek's grey eye.

I sincerely hope it isn't Ocular Marek's but it is a possibility and if it is your whole flock has been exposed.

Here is a picture of one of my hens with ocular Marek's disease. You can see while she has her eye open, the eye it'self appears to be bulging.

View attachment 1310256

This is a textbook example of Ocular Marek's. Grey colored Iris with irregular shaped pupil.

There is no lab work or treatment for the disease if that is what she has. When one of my birds has symptoms, I keep the eye lubricated with an otc eye moisturizing drop like Refresh and if they seem to be in pain, I give them a baby aspirin.

Usually people diagnose the OC just by symptoms and the appearance of the Iris and Pupil.

She opens her eye like normal, I just couldn’t get a picture of it last night. Her eye is completely clouded over (no color at all) kind of like a blind dogs looks. After talking to some people I thought it would be an infection under the eye lids of some sort but I looked at it today and the eye lids aren’t swollen at all, it just looks like the eyeball is out of the socket. If there’s an infection it has to be hind the whole eye. I’m affraid surgery might be the only option for her.

 

[Miriah132]

Questions. When you pry her eyelids open how does her eye look? Is the Iris (the colored part) clear or does it look red/green/grey . Her conjunctiva. Is it white or red. The pupil (the black part) is it dilated or pinpoint? Is it perfectly round or irregular shaped.

The reason I ask is because there is a reason she is keeping her eye closed. The eye is painful or sensitive to light.

I have ocular Marek's in my flock. It's latest victim is a pretty and friendly Buff O/Welsummer cross hen who presented with a swollen eye that she kept closed. DH who is a retired eye doctor looked at her eye for me and said it was a herpes infection Herpes can cause a uveitis that can cause the swelling in the eye. It is quite painful. Her eye at the onset of the infection was a deep blue color, almost black that faded into the classic Marek's grey eye.

I sincerely hope it isn't Ocular Marek's but it is a possibility and if it is your whole flock has been exposed.

Here is a picture of one of my hens with ocular Marek's disease. You can see while she has her eye open, the eye it'self appears to be bulging.

View attachment 1310256

This is a textbook example of Ocular Marek's. Grey colored Iris with irregular shaped pupil.

There is no lab work or treatment for the disease if that is what she has. When one of my birds has symptoms, I keep the eye lubricated with an otc eye moisturizing drop like Refresh and if they seem to be in pain, I give them a baby aspirin.

Usually people diagnose the OC just by symptoms and the appearance of the Iris and Pupil.

I was affraid it might be something like that, but she has been housed with 8 other chickens since chickhood and none of them are showing any signs of problems.

 

[microchick]

I have over 50 chickens right now. 3 with ocular Marek's. Everyone else asymptomatic although I know they have all been exposed.

I would think if there was an infection there would be some other symptoms such as drainage, crusting and redness. Not sure if there is anything 'behind' the eye that could become infected. Will have to ask my husband and get back to you on that but usually if the eyeball itself is swollen there is increased pressure within the eye itself which makes the eye painful.

The hen I mentioned in a previous post never had redness, drainage or sing of infection in the eye. Her eye turned deep blue, swelled and was painful so she kept it shut all the time. Her eye looked very much like your hen's eye does.

If you have a vet that will take a look at her ask him if Ocular Marek's is a possibility.