Foggy/clouded chicken eye

[Eggcessive]

Alrighty, here is an update. The cloudiness has increased and decreased depending on the day. However, now there are blood clots in his iris in three different places. What should I do? Should I try the other treatment option? He isn't even using the eye, so I assume he is already blind in that eye. The white string is part of the light source.

You may never know what went wrong with his eye, but I think he is blind as well. It could be injury or infection, or a disease, but it probably won’t get better. Hopefully, it isn’t Mareks. I only have seen pictures of ocular Mareks, and it doesn’t look like pictures I have seen, but I am not an expert. I had a hen who did okay with only sight in one eye.

 

[azygous]

If he's keeping the eye closed, it probably means it hurts like the dickens. From my experience, this little guy's eye is going blind but probably isn't there quite yet.

This past spring I had a hen with the same symptoms. It began with pink eye, conjunctivitis, and progressed in just a few days to the eye being completely obscured by an opaque white film. At that point, I knew she was blind and the eye was a lost cause.

However, my hen was sick overall and kept declining in spite of my trying two oral antibiotics (Tylan 50 and amoxicillin after the Tylan didn't seem to be working) in addition to Terramycin, and she quit eating or drinking on her own. I tube fed her for several more days, she continued to decline and I euthanized her.

I would keep up with the treatment you're doing and accept the eye may not recover from this. I expect the patient will recover, though, and learn to function with the one eye. The only hitch is that the right eye is used for finding food and seeing bugs on the ground. Most young chickens will find a work-around and learn to use the distance eye (left) for everything.

 

[averkademay]

Thank you so much azygous and eggcessive for the quick response and helpful info. Bless you for being so kind and helpful. I am not sure how location can help chickengegeto. If it does, I live in Iowa. Despite it being a lost cause I am still going to do everything I can for him. Is there anything I can give him to aid the pain? He usually closes the eye when I come in because he knows its time for the medicine. Otherwise, he leaves it open when he is active. He is active in eating, drinking, weight, and activity. I have checked his health every few days to make sure he is not going downhill. So far, he has been thriving.

Edit: I do want to note that I have no idea if this bird was vaccinated. My whole flock was vaccinated for mareks when they were chicks. Except he was not, along with five other birds. Two from a neighbor (unvaccinated) and three (including him not vaccinated) from breeders. If this was mareks then all should be developing symptoms, right? The ages of each bird vary but I have owned these birds for a range from 1 year-5 years.

 

[Eggcessive]

Have you used the aspirin that Azygous recommended? See post 14. I would also keep his eye lubricated with the antibiotic ointment or a lubricant eye drop.

 

[azygous]

Marek's is a complicated disease and the vax isn't always successful at preventing it since there are numerous strains. It also depends a lot on individual immune responses. Some chickens develop resistance while others can become symptomatic. I do not believe this is an issue you are facing at this time.

You should be hopeful this chick will make a recovery since chicks' cells are still growing and it will be much easier for him to fight this than if he were much older. It's an excellent sign that he's managed to maintain his normal vigor, and I believe he's going to be fine.

 

[averkademay]

So far the invading blood veins have slightly increased. I worry that if it is some kind of infection, then will the infection spread to his head and rest of this body? I really want him to survive even if he is left with one eye. If there anything I can do to the eye to prevent further infection without the use of eye surgery?

Again thank you Azygous and Eggcessive for the info and suggestions. I am doing the best I can for him to be comfortable and happy.

 

[azygous]

Are you giving him an oral antibiotic along with the eye ointment? Perhaps it's time for amoxicillin or penicillin. You can order antibiotics here. They ship the same day. https://pet-healthcare.revivalanimal.com/search?p=Q&ts=custom&w=fish antibiotics

 

[averkademay]

Good Point Azygous. I can order the amoxicillin or I can go to my local farm a feed store an get a Durvet Penicillin Pen bottle. Will either work? I can go and grab the Durvet Penicillin today. How would I apply? It has a rubber stop so I would use a needle and syringe. Take the needle off and squirt .5 CC in his eye? Or should this be taken orally?

 

[averkademay]

Sadly, things are still going downhill. I am here to make a final choice. The eye has been getting worse a tiny bit every single day. Almost not even noticeable. However, now the "ghostly" cataract has turned green and the veins more red. Clearly an infection. Apparently little is known about the treatment of infections in chicken eyes because I can't find much info of this sort of thing.

1. Avian flu. Can't be because if it was my whole flock would be dead by now
2. Conjunctivitis (bacterial) Tried triple antibiotic and polysporin to no avail. Amoxicillin is an antibiotic that I received a awhile ago and still trying. (i wanted to try the polysporin and triple anitiotic first) Possibly too late too...However, topical antibiotics should have treated bacteria according to this article. https://www.reviewofoptometry.com/article/topical-antibiotics I think I can find somewhere some prescribed eye ointments from past family use. But would that be ok to use on a chicken?
3. Untreated cataracts. Seems reasonable as it does look like "hyper-mature" cataracts. Only surgery can help in this case. I feel as though it would be way to cruel to perform surgery on a chicken's eye without giving it pain relief...
4. Marek's disease. As mentioned a while ago it just might be. I don't know if he was vaccinated or not. Apparently, Acyclovir (Zovirax®) is something that would treat conjunctivitis in Marek's ocular victims. According to this link http://www.poultrydvm.com/condition/mareks-disease.
5. glaucoma. Maybe? The photos look similar. caused by trauma or inflammation of the eye. The best way at this point is to remove the eye...again. A website says providing antibiotics for long-term would be just to painful.
6. ectoparasites. These tick, flies, and maggots attach near the head and transmit conjunctivitis. I haven't seen any on him.
7. Conjunctivitis (VARIOUS options) These are mainly from foreign objects in the eye or dirty living areas. I just cleaned the coop with fresh bedding two months ago so it is clean but maybe dust/particles infected his eye? Other listed options are not as relevant as he does not have discharge or literally any other symptoms. http://www.poultrydvm.com/condition/conjunctivitis

I don't know what to do. I can't remove his eye as that is just too much for both of us. His behavior doesn't appear to be in any pain other than his frustration when I pick him up. He seems to have more dry skin in the photo as you can see it peeling a bit. He walks around, eats with the rest of the flock, forages, is healthy in weight, he is not picked on, and is able to venture around his home easily. Yet, his eye looks bad as the green covers most of the eye. The greeness started about a week ago. Should I just cull him to prevent it from becoming worse? I really wish I knew exactly what was going on. If I do cull him I will send him to a necropsy.

 

[Eggcessive]

Since he is eating and getting around with his flock, I would probably let him try to get along. Blindness can be a common problem, and most of those chickens can bet along well with one eye. I had one who would wonder out of the yard, and need to be guided back sometimes, but she was always a little slow. Using the antibiotic eye ointment would probably help. If you can se a vet, they might be able to tell if there is any reason to not let him be.