Hen's eye seems to be blinking...sideways

[CaramelKittey]

Hi all!
I'm back with another weird one!
I have a hen (Rhode Island Red/ Black Star cross) who is about 2-3 years old. And....her eyelid seems to be sideways. I have no idea how to explain it, so I just have to show it.
This is her right eye. Perfectly normal.


The bottom picture is her left eye. I have no clue how long this has been going on. I first noticed it a few days ago, and decided to post about it today. She is the only bird who has it, and she is acting fine. Her vision seems to be okay too. The eye is not dry, there is no discharge, and she doesn't seem to have any other issues. Any idea what it could be?

Here's a link to a video of it.

Any help or advice given is greatly appreciated!

 

[Lady of McCamley]

You are simply seeing her nictating membrane that all chickens have to protect their eyes.

As to why it is more visible, it might be slightly inflamed.

However, it is normal to see their membrane working if you watch closely.

LofMc

 

[MsPonderosa]

Hi all!
I'm back with another weird one!
I have a hen (Rhode Island Red/ Black Star cross) who is about 2-3 years old. And....her eyelid seems to be sideways. I have no idea how to explain it, so I just have to show it.
This is her right eye. Perfectly normal.

View attachment 2127786
The bottom picture is her left eye. I have no clue how long this has been going on. I first noticed it a few days ago, and decided to post about it today. She is the only bird who has it, and she is acting fine. Her vision seems to be okay too. The eye is not dry, there is no discharge, and she doesn't seem to have any other issues. Any idea what it could be?
View attachment 2127788
Here's a link to a video of it.

Any help or advice given is greatly appreciated!

The sideways blink is just her nictitating membrane (3rd eyelid) which is normal anatomy. The white area in the corner of the eye is not the same as the other eye. I cant tell if this is discharge or something but i would clean around the eye with a soft warm wet cotton ball gently and dont touch surface of the eye. If the area gets worse, increased whiteness, squinting, discharge, holding the eye shut, etc - i would get her looked at otherwise i would keep an eye pn the eye and if it goes back to normal - youre done

 

[MsPonderosa]

The sideways blink is just her nictitating membrane (3rd eyelid) which is normal anatomy. The white area in the corner of the eye is not the same as the other eye. I cant tell if this is discharge or something but i would clean around the eye with a soft warm wet cotton ball gently and dont touch surface of the eye. If the area gets worse, increased whiteness, squinting, discharge, holding the eye shut, etc - i would get her looked at otherwise i would keep an eye pn the eye and if it goes back to normal - youre done

Also when i zoom your picture of the second eye, the area surrounding the entire eye appears inflamed - is it puffy around it? Touch the area and compare to the good eye. Is there heat?
maybe she got pecked in the eye?

 

[CaramelKittey]

Thank you for the advice! I think it is highly probable that she got pecked. It looked like there was a little bubbly stuff around her eyes but, no discharge looking thing. Are there any sort of treatments I could put on it? I will definitely clean the eye with a soft wet cotton ball tomorrow morning. It's too dark now.

 

[Eggcessive]

I agree that you are seeing the nictitating membrane, but the white material looks like infection or pus. I would clean the eye with saline eye wash or a clean cloth, and apply antibiotic ointment 2-3 times a day. Terramycin eye ointment is available at some feed stores .

 

[CaramelKittey]

I agree that you are seeing the nictitating membrane, but the white material looks like infection or pus. I would clean the eye with saline eye wash or a clean cloth, and apply antibiotic ointment 2-3 times a day. Terramycin eye ointment is available at some feed stores .

Thank you! I'll get some next time we head out to TSC!

 

[CaramelKittey]

Alright..so this is gonna sound like I'm a horrible chicken owner but, trust me, everything turned out fine.
This hen has 3-5 sisters that look almost identical to her. I looked at them all and I couldn't even figure out which chicken had the problem. I finally spotted her yesterday, and the infection had reduced to half the size. Today, the infection was totally gone.
Am I are horrible chicken owner? Yes. But, did the chicken make it? Yes.