feather loss and swelling around eyes

[elisec]

I have 9 hens and the two youngest (8 months) and the two oldest, and a few others have what looks like swelling around the eyes and feather loss around the eyes. My minorcas have brown spots on the white below their ears. Any ideas? I've been looking online and inthe Chicken Health Handbook and can't come up with a diagnosis. Not other symptoms. Any help is appreciated.

 

[Eggcessive]

A picture of the eyes and spots below the ears might help. Do you have mosquitoes right now? Brown spots can sometimes be fowl pox from a virus spread by mosquitoes. Eye swelling most of the time signals a respiratory disease such as mycoplasma, infectious bronchitis, coryza, and others. But fowl pox can get into the eyes causing swelling, so that is why a picture would help. Other respiratory symptoms to look for would be cough/sneeze, nasal drainage, wheezing, rattles and eye bubbles. Here is some reading about some of these diseases: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044

 

[Eggcessive]

Feather loss can also be a symptom of her scratching at the eye or even a fungal infection. The picture will help.

 

[elisec]

Not lots of mosquitos right now. I intend on posting photos but the ones I took didn't come out. I'll try again. The hens aren't showing any other symptoms and they don't seem to be uncomfortable. I'll work on photos.
Photos included. One of the 8 month old, and one old girl.


Maybe they're fine but the minora doesn't look right.

 

[rbaker0345]

If I remember correctly, this is flea season in FL.

 

[elisec]

Actually, my dog and cat did have an outbreak about a month ago, but the fleas chickens get are stick fleas, and my girls don't have any.

 

[rbaker0345]

Well, just from my experience those look like bug bites. I live in NC and my chickens are still getting bitten by mosquitoes, I'm not getting bitten but because the girls are outside at night and we still have some very hardy, nocturnal mosquitoes I do see them coming out in the morning with some bites and i have seen a few mosquitoes in the coop at night. You're a bit farther south than myself, maybe you have some stubborn mosquitoes. There are some ilnesses which can cause edema in the comb and feet, but I can't remember what they are right now.

 

[elisec]

We definitely have a few stragglers even though it's getting cold.I guess it's a good place for bug bites since it's exposed skin. Thanks. I'll keep an eye on the girls!

 

[Noobchick]

Your birds look fine to me. I've learned that their eyes get puffier as they mature. (I freaked when my birds did that. Lol). The girl who's missing feathers: do you have a rooster? If so, he could just be being a little overzealous when mating. If not, the other chickens could be pecking her. Last possibility for her is a molt.

 

[elisec]

I think you're right about the molt. We don't have a rooster, and the molting pattern this year has been weird, probably due to bizarre weather. The girls I was most worried about are 8 months old, and they haven't laid eggs in over 2 months.