Change in hen's eye - worried

Yurd Ahd

Chirping
5 Years
May 19, 2014
35
10
79
about a week or so ago one of my hens had a swollen and shut eye. so I put some neosporin on it. now it seems better although she does close it from time to time. but the eye looks different now. at first when she opened it back up it was all black and then some days later the iris looks orange and the pupil is small and kind of vertically slanted. Besides that, she is a perfectly normal chicken - no nasal discharge or any other signs of illness. She likes to keep herself mostly. All the other chickens are fine. I did have one die last week but she was older and had some problems getting around and also had a breast blister that never fully healed. So I am kind of concerned - I have the impression that she is blind in that eye now. But could it be something else like something contagious I have to worry about. Thanks
 

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I know I have read about Mareks, that is why I am so worried!!!!!! I have ten chickens in all. Something physically actually happened to the eye (she held it closed for a day or so and then it when she opened it again it was all black and then it changed again). So there were 3 different changes in this eye problem. In Mareks, I so far haven't read anything about the eye becoming swollen shut and then changing twice - from all black to what it looks like now. None of my other chickens have ever had changes in the iris. Please ask your expert chicken friends - I am in a real pickle here. I need to know if I have to cull my whole flock or not :(
 
I just read many keepers end up keeping their flock. Whew :b I am going to follow her around and take a look at her poop.
 
It would be premature to cull your flock, since you are not even certain yet that Mareks is a problem. Since the eye was swollen shut, it may have been pecked or injured, she could have gotten something stuck in her eye causing infection, or there could be a sinus respiratory disease such as mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG.)

Since you had a recent death, there might have been a connection. Did she have any swollen ankles or hock joints, or have any respiratory infection. Chickens with breast blisters can sometimes have mycoplasma synovitis (MS.) Some just get the breast blisters from lying around on the ground because they have problems walking from another reason.

I would make sure to get a necropsy by your state vet on any further deaths in your flock. Here is a good link with contact info for state vets:
http://www.metzerfarms.com/PoultryLabs.cfm
 
Really you are worrying too much. Yes it is possible it is Marek's but there is certainly no need to cull your flock even if it is. I have had Marek's in my flock for several years now and whilst it is sad when I lose a bird to it, it has not been nearly half as bad as much of what I read about it. I give supportive care as long as they show an interest in food and the spirit to fight it and I euthanize when they will no longer eat. I have had quite a few birds recover from outbreaks of the disease and whilst they still have the disease itself, they can be symptom free for months or even years before the next outbreak. I have no experience with ocular Marek's.... mine have mostly been paralysis and visceral, so I can't give you specific advice on this other than not to panic.
 
It would be premature to cull your flock, since you are not even certain yet that Mareks is a problem. Since the eye was swollen shut, it may have been pecked or injured, she could have gotten something stuck in her eye causing infection, or there could be a sinus respiratory disease such as mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG.)

Since you had a recent death, there might have been a connection. Did she have any swollen ankles or hock joints, or have any respiratory infection. Chickens with breast blisters can sometimes have mycoplasma synovitis (MS.) Some just get the breast blisters from lying around on the ground because they have problems walking from another reason.

I would make sure to get a necropsy by your state vet on any further deaths in your flock. Here is a good link with contact info for state vets:
http://www.metzerfarms.com/PoultryLabs.cfm
Thanks for the info. My chicken that died had some kind of weird problem with walking. her right foot she would walk on it upside down - like resting the weight on her ankle. Her gait was strange - I thought maybe she might have broken a bone but she manged to still get around. No problems with weight loss/not eating. She lived like that for a long time until she died. I also had another hen just drop dead with no symptoms last month on the 21st. She was fine and then one day was dead on the coop floor. The body looked un-tampered with. She head a head without feathers for a long time. I didn't put the body in the fridge (for the one that died on sunday) unfortunately, and the carcass smells so I am just about to burn it in the fire when it gets hot enough. This sucks and is confusing! I just got 6 new chicks this spring too. I have also have had this one white chicken for like 5 years - and she still appears super healthy (the white one in my profile pic). Maybe she's an asymptomatic Marek's carrier - if it even is Marek's.
 
Really you are worrying too much. Yes it is possible it is Marek's but there is certainly no need to cull your flock even if it is. I have had Marek's in my flock for several years now and whilst it is sad when I lose a bird to it, it has not been nearly half as bad as much of what I read about it. I give supportive care as long as they show an interest in food and the spirit to fight it and I euthanize when they will no longer eat. I have had quite a few birds recover from outbreaks of the disease and whilst they still have the disease itself, they can be symptom free for months or even years before the next outbreak. I have no experience with ocular Marek's.... mine have mostly been paralysis and visceral, so I can't give you specific advice on this other than not to panic.
Thank you! I feel a bit better now
 
Was it regular topical Neosporin for wounds or ophthalmic Neosporin? Regular Neosporin is toxic to the cornea
 

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