No help? :( Updated w/ pics: 3 wk chk bulging eyes, twitching neck

[bucks]

Hey, we are new to chickens, and are having a rough start. We have 3 week old buckeyes. Two days ago we noticed one of them had bulging eyes, and he was twitching/jerking his neck more than normal, and his feathers also seemed a little "rough?". We separated him from the others, and have tried to find out what is causing it, but all we are coming up with is Merak's (contracted from the immunization), but he is too young for that to be showing I think, and his eye color seems to be normal. He might be having vision trouble, because he doesn't seem to see our hands, etc real well. Please help us

Below are the answers to the questions the sticky said to answer.

) What type of bird , age and weight. Buckeye, three weeks, normal? weight (he is about same size as others)
2) What is the behavior, exactly. His eyes are bulging, and he jerks his neck every couple seconds, might be having vision issues...doesn't respond to hand coming at it until you are touching it.
3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms? This is the second full day
4) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma. No
5) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation. Nothing
6) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all. He has not been eating much. He is isolated by himself.
7) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc. Not sure.
8) What has been the treatment you have administered so far? Isolation.
9 ) What is your intent as far as treatment? For example, do you want to treat completely yourself, or do you need help in stabilizing the bird til you can get to a vet? Not sure...need advice!
10) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help.
11) Describe the housing/bedding in use We are using pine shavings, we have been using the deep liter method.

 

[bucks]

Updated with pictures. Thanks!

 

[bucks]

Can no one help us??

 

[sonew123]

Im so sorry -I can't help much at all but wanted to bump this post to get more attention--good luck and I hope someone pops in reall soon who knows what it is

 

[kelar]

Not sure what is going on with your chick, but please be aware that the Marek's vaccine will NOT cause Mareks Disease & you are right, the chick is a bit too young to be showing symtoms. I had an Ameraucana chick some years ago with bulging eyes which was caused by pressure under the eye. A long story short, the pullet was eventually adopted by a veterinary student who removed one of her eyes for pathology & it came back as glaucoma. She ended up in a caring home but is blind. I'm presuming in her case this was a genetic/birth problem because she was born that way. Have you checked this chick carefully for parasites? A bad mite/lice infection can cause swelling around the eyes so I'd explore this avenue first. I'd make sure the chick is parasite free, put her on vitamins/electrolytes & a broad spectrum antibiotic like Tylan to see if there is any improvement. Good luck, Karen

 

[bucks]

Thank you both very much for your replies. Karen(or anyone else), would you mind telling me how to check for parasites? We are rookies!

 

[peaceful]

Oh dear. that doesn't look very normal to me, though I am not familiar with that breed. Are you saying that's the normal colour of the eyes?
It is possible for humans and chickens to have reactions, sometimes serious, to vaccines/immunization, for what that is worth. It also crossed my mind parasites? tumour? But I don't know what to advise for that in this situation.
Seems potentially serious enough that I would consider consulting a vet if you want to try to treat it and if you don't get more info from this site. Are any of your vet's offices friendly enough that you could phone up and ask some quick questions on the phone? We live in a small town/friendly kind of area, and you can do that here sometimes. Although, vets frequently don't know chickens that well.
good luck with it all and best wishes.

 

[kelar]

I'd suspect external parasites just from the scabby skin condition, but for a close up and personal view, check your birds at night with a flashlight. Mites come out and feed on the birds at night so check around the vent & oil gland area in front of the tail for fairly fast moving dark specks. Lighter colored critters are often lice. Is the bird showing any respiratory symptoms such as wheezing, gurgling, sneezing? There are several respiratory infections that can cause swelling around the eyes, but the bulging outward indicates pressure under the eye. If it is pressure, it will eventually cause the eye to implode - is this bird showing distress like her eyes are causing her pain? I think the advice to consult a vet is good if you are so inclined - any vet who treats birds (of any type) should at least be able to examine the eyes and determine the reason for the bulging. If it is pressure, it is probably quite painful & while glaucoma is not common in birds, it does occur. Karen

 

[SeaHen]

"Not sure what is going on with your chick, but please be aware that the Marek's vaccine will NOT cause Mareks Disease"

I'm not suggesting this chick has Marek's disease, but my understanding is that the vaccine contains live chicken herpesvirus. Perhaps I'm misinformed, but I do know that whenever vaccines contain live viruses there is a risk of contracting the disease itself.

If the chick were a human my first thought would be Graves disease. Can chickens have congenital hyperthyroidism?

 

[kelar]

I'd love to see an update on this chick?? In response to the earlier post, I believe that the vaccine commonly available (MD-Vac CFL) is an HVT- Serotype 3 which is a non-oncogenic Turkey herpesvirus strain that stimulates the production of antibodies in chickens, but does not cause the disease. I'm not an immunologist though, so I've asked the question of our state vet who IS and will post his reply when it is received. Karen