Foggy/clouded chicken eye

[averkademay]

Hello! Sorry for the lack of an image. I have been at so many events, work, and college. So I have been using the triple antibiotic as stated above. Honestly, it looked like it was getting better. However today there is one small white string coming off his eye along with more of a watery look eye appearance. It is starting to become more like this photo below. He has the orange iris but it may be slowly turning dark. There are no veins in the iris nor a deep grey iris. Nevertheless, this is exactly what his eye looks like. foggy. I am so sad if it is mareks...he is over a year old can he still get it? Why now? Will it spread to my other birds? What can I do for him? can a bird this old get mereks?

 

[azygous]

Chickens can get Marek's anytime. But I don't think that's what this is.

I Had a hen recently with what appears to be to same condition. I treated it as you are with an antibiotic ointment. I even went to the feed store and spent $20 on a teensy tube of terramycin, and it didn't work either. Her eye kept getting worse.

I started her on a round of Tylan 50. Later I tried amoxicillin. She continued to get worse, not eating, extreme lethargy, and the eye became opaque. Her vision was gone at that point. I hate to have to admit I was at a loss, and I eventually euthanized her when she just kept failing instead of showing even the least sign of improvement.

I'm sorry I can't be more helpful. If your patient dies, I recommend strongly you refrigerate the body (don't freeze) and send it to an ag lab for a necropsy so you will know if this is going to threaten the rest of your flock.

 

[averkademay]

Thank you for your reply azygous. I am sorry to hear about the fate of your bird. I really love my Dominque boy and don't want him to die. He is still very active in eating, drinking, and roosting at night. The white string has become yellow and I was able to pull it out. He seems to be fighting with the other rooster in the flock. Could this be caused by an injury? I finally got some photos of his eyes:

 

[azygous]

He certainly appears sweet. As long as he behaves normally, you have every reason to be hopeful he'll recover. When a chicken shows a symptom such as this, but they also act like they feel sick, it's a signal the problem is systemic and complex - much more difficult to treat.

Yes, an injury to the eye, even failure of the nictitating membrane not being reflexive enough to keep dirt out of the eye during dirt bathing can result in an eye infection.

If you treat his eye as you would an injury, meaning that you flush the eye with saline each morning and apply the ointment as recommended, that's what I would focus on. You should see improvement in a couple of days.

Is he scratching at his eye? If so, it means it hurts. You can give him a baby aspirin twice a day and it will reduce the pain by a considerable amount.

 

[averkademay]

Come to think of it, I don't think he is using his nictitating eyelid at all. He just closes his eye while roosting and leaves it open when getting around. Even when I hold him he chooses to close his eye instead of blinking with his third eyelid. He isn't scratching the eye. So hopefully, he is not in pain.

 

[azygous]

It could be a very important thing if he isn't able to use his nictitating eyelid. It could indicate that the source of his eye troubles is a foreign body lodged under that eyelid.

Have you attempted to flush his eye at all? If not, I highly recommend getting some saline solution (Walmart has it where the bandaids are shelved) and giving his eye a good wash, pulling back the eye tissue carefully to expose the hidden parts.

If you have a vet who will see chickens, it would be a very good idea to have them do it since they can be sure of seeing the foreign body if it's lodged there, and they'd be able to safely coax it out.

 

[averkademay]

Good news! He is using his nictitating eyelid. Every time I clean his eyes, a film seems to come off. When he blinks, a cloudy film peels off and rolls up into a white string throughout the day. I will continue treatment and will keep you posted.

 

[azygous]

Any progress is good. Here's hoping he keeps it up!

 

[averkademay]

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.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Hello all!

I have a year old (I think. He had adults feathers when I got him half a year ago) male Dominque bantam. One of his eyes is cloudy. It is not more or less cloudy in certain spots. I the whole eye is a lighter color. A small amount of pink (or white) fuzz can be seen in the fogginess. It seems to get washed around as he blinks his nictitating eyelid. Now it does not appear to be a cataract. The eye is just completely covered in a gentle fog or "blurriness." The other eye is completely fine and clear.
I have another rooster in the same flock that could be sparing occasionally. He knows he is the lower ranking roo and backs down. Could this be injury caused? If so, what should I use to treat it?
I would think he is too old for mareks disease...
Maybe eyeworm? There are no bubbles. The membrane at the corner of his eye does show swollen and irritated veins.
I will try and get a photo soon. Any advice would be most appreciated.

Mostly because you failed to specify your physical location any help I can offer will be a shot in the dark.