Do chickens eyes change color?

[SunnyCO]

Good morning! I have a BO hen that is about 10 months old and in the last week one of her eyes has gone from a golden color to a dark brown/black. It seems like it might be a little swollen but very, very little and it does seem like she's not seeing out of it 100%. I haven't added any new birds to the flock, ever, and none of the others seem to be having anything like it. She is low on the pecking order, could she have gotten pecked? Should I be taking her to a vet? Any help/suggestions would be appreciated.

Thank you!
Karen Eslick

 

[Eggcessive]

Could you post a picture of the eyes? Are her pupils equal in both eyes, and are they round?

 

[SunnyCO]

Sorry, the pictures aren't great, it's dark here and she wasn't all that excited to have pictures taken. The first picture is the bad eye and the second is the normal eye. It doesn't seem like she can see out of the bad eye. I just don't know if this is an injury or a disease, I'm very new to the chicken thing. Thank you for any help.

 

[Eggcessive]

Her right eye looks very dilated. That could be from many different things such as an injury or infection of the eye or the brain, as well as Mareks disease. Avian encephalomyelitis can cause later problems in the eye. If you can get a clearer picture, it would help because even the left eye could be somewhat irregular in shape. Here are some good links to read about eye disorders, and it will take a few minutes to download the second one:
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps031
http://www.joneshamiltonag.com/jh/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/PLT_Poultry-Eye-Disorders.pdf

Here is a picture of a chicken where the eye on the left shows a cataract resulting from avian encephalomyelitis as a chick: