Just going blind or is there more here?

[UrbanGrower]

Quote:
I've inspected all the other girls, they appear fine. One is questionable but her iris is so dark and spotty in coloration that I cannot really tell. All of my hens were sick shortly after I received my second batch(about 6 months ago), I suspected some type of respiratory illness. All recovered, and there appears to be no other symptoms of illness at this time.

 

[pips&peeps]

I've seen cataracts in chickens eyes and that is not one; the cataract usually develops in the pupil area, not on the whole outside of the cornea like people do. Chickens can get cataracts from hereditary issues or from aspergillosis infection in the brain.

Your plan souns good to me. There is no reason to go out and kill all your birds if they are doing fine. I believe the strain that causes the eye involvement is not too bad and most birds will not show any symptoms. Just make sure you brig in vaccinated birds if you chose to expand or replace your flock.

 

[UrbanGrower]

Thanks again peeps for the advice and confirmation.

 

[blefky]

pips&peeps :

I've seen cataracts in chickens eyes and that is not one; the cataract usually develops in the pupil area, not on the whole outside of the cornea like people do. Chickens can get cataracts from hereditary issues or from aspergillosis infection in the brain.

Your plan souns good to me. There is no reason to go out and kill all your birds if they are doing fine. I believe the strain that causes the eye involvement is not too bad and most birds will not show any symptoms. Just make sure you brig in vaccinated birds if you chose to expand or replace your flock.

Thank you for that clarification. This is why I love BYC, so many people with so much knowledge willing to share!

 

[LaurelRidgeDreams]

Quote:
The mareks virus is not only shed in bodily fluids, it is shed in dander.

http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index.jsp?cfile=htm/bc/203602.htm&word=marek's

There is a picture on the bottom right which shows eye involvement like your bird.

As one with admittedly more experience with human health than poultry, looking at the picture of Marek's eye involvement in the above link - there appears to be a substantial difference in what I'm seeing. The OP's hen has a translucent grayish film covering the entire surface of the eye- almost cataract-ish, whereas the pic in the link shows, and discusses, an irregular iris. I'm not educated enough on this to make any kind of call, I'm just commenting on what I'm seeing. Always open to learning from everyone's experience.

I agree. I had a pullet with Mareks and the iris part of her eyes turned grey. Her eyes did not look like your chicken's eye.