Perpetually Watery Eyes: What's Going On?

[buffy-the-eggpile-layer]

Hello! Over the past couple of weeks I've noticed that my almost 2 year old EE's fuzzy cheeks have been wet looking, almost as if she's been crying. At first I thought she was getting them wet in the waterer, but today I noticed one of the eyes looked foamy. Of course, as soon as I went to get my camera and came back out, the bubbles were gone. But you can still tell the feathers around her eyes are drenched, and she may be mildly swollen.

Beyond looking like she's been constantly crying, she's acting normal. She is at the bottom of the pecking order but not suffering any bullying that I've noticed. She's eating, drinking, laying, and scratching around. As soon as I put her down after inspection she started dust bathing. No noticeable smell or discharge from her nares/beak. No raspy breathing.

Could this be mild mycoplasma? Or something else? I don't want to jump the gun starting her on antibiotics, nor to I want to wrench her from the flock since she'd have a tough time w/reintegration (and the stress might make things worse). She's particularly bad at knowing how to be a chicken by herself--very much needs her sisters to show her the ropes.

 

[buffy-the-eggpile-layer]

I should add: she is shaking her head and occasionally scratching the eye that was bubbly. Also thinking maybe eyeworms?

 

[Mamatomany123]

How is she doing? She may have just got something in her eye. If it is mycoplasma then theres no use in separating her. She would have already infected the entire flock.

 

[buffy-the-eggpile-layer]

How is she doing? She may have just got something in her eye. If it is mycoplasma then theres no use in separating her. She would have already infected the entire flock.

Hi! Thank you for asking. She still has one watery, bubbly eye that fluctuates. Sometimes there are a large amount of visible bubbles, sometimes barely any or none. It's definitely still watery because the poor girl's cheek is always wet. The discharge is always clear (like tears), no smell, no mucus, no other respiratory or other issues visible. Shes laying, energetic, eating/drinking, etc.

One weird thing is when I flushed her eye last night she seemed to drool saliva-ish substance (I believe came from her beak or nares, but possible eye--hard to tell because it was a wet situation). She had just had a bunch to eat and drink so I assumed she was stressed with the handling of her body/face. Was 100% fine when put back down.

This has been going on for weeks now. I'm baffled as to what it could be.

 

[Myrshine]

Bubbling of the eyes is NOT eye worms. Eye worms are visible in the eyes, they are also extremely rare. Bubbling/foamy/water eyes are caused by a respiratory infection. The reasoning is because all around the eyes, are the birds sinus cavities and when they become inflamed, is causes bubbling/foaming and/or watery discharge from the eyes. This is normally the first sign of a respiratory infection such as MG or Infectious Coryza. It also may just be a mild strain of one of these diseases.
In my experience and research, this looks like classic Chronic Respiratory Disease (CRD), or most commonly known as Mycoplasma Gallisepticum (MG). MG is a bacterial infection of poultry, affecting all different species of birds. This disease is most commonly given from infected parents to the offspring, as the MG bacteria can be transmitted vertically into the eggs of developing embryos, making any chicks that hatch, always infected and sick with the bacteria. So please don’t ever breed from your sickly infected flock to sell or giveaway chicks/hens/roosters to anyone. You can freely choose to hatch for yourself, but you should not ever sell and or giveaway any extra roosters as you’ll just be giving someone else your flock’s disease, causing them a devastation. MG is a permanent lifelong chronic disease- meaning, that you can treat or have the symptoms go away, but whenever the bird gets stressed again, the symptoms will keep coming back or get worse. All birds (even recovered birds) remain lifetime long carriers of the MG bacteria, spreading and shedding it through their feces, feathers, dander, respiratory secretions and other bodily fluids. This is a serious permanent lifetime disease of poultry and is incurable, but treatable with antibiotics. Since MG is caused by a bacteria, antibiotics can help keep symptoms at bay until the symptoms resurface whenever birds become stressed again. Keep in mind that over-use and/or misuse of antibiotics also creates antibiotic-resistant bacteria, making the disease harder to treat than before. It’s critical in any livestock animal, especially poultry, to get any sick or symptomatic birds tested to find out which specific disease they have as soon as possible. That being said, most choose to cull all birds, disinfect and start over fresh. If you’d rather not, then the other option is to keep a closed flock- no new birds into your flock and no birds leave your sick flock. If you choose to start over, always quarantine any new birds that you decide to bring into your flock, 30 day quarantine isn’t always enough, therefore, it’s best to do a 60 day quarantine AWAY from your healthy birds, in another area.



Here's more information about MG:


https://extension.umd.edu/sites/ext... Mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG) Infecti....pdf


https://www.freedomrangerhatchery.com/blog/protecting-your-flock-what-you-need-to-know-about-mg-ms/


https://afarmgirlinthemaking.com/respiratory-conditions-poultry-mycoplasma-in-chickens/


https://www.maine.gov/dacf/ahw/animal_health/documents/backyardpoultry/Mycoplasma Factsheet.pdf

https://www.oie.int/doc/ged/D9107.PDF


I hope this helps!

 

[buffy-the-eggpile-layer]

Bubbling of the eyes is NOT eye worms. Eye worms are visible in the eyes, they are also extremely rare. Bubbling/foamy/water eyes are caused by a respiratory infection. The reasoning is because all around the eyes, are the birds sinus cavities and when they become inflamed, is causes bubbling/foaming and/or watery discharge from the eyes. This is normally the first sign of a respiratory infection such as MG or Infectious Coryza. It also may just be a mild strain of one of these diseases.
In my experience and research, this looks like classic Chronic Respiratory Disease (CRD), or most commonly known as Mycoplasma Gallisepticum (MG). MG is a bacterial infection of poultry, affecting all different species of birds. This disease is most commonly given from infected parents to the offspring, as the MG bacteria can be transmitted vertically into the eggs of developing embryos, making any chicks that hatch, always infected and sick with the bacteria. So please don’t ever breed from your sickly infected flock to sell or giveaway chicks/hens/roosters to anyone. You can freely choose to hatch for yourself, but you should not ever sell and or giveaway any extra roosters as you’ll just be giving someone else your flock’s disease, causing them a devastation. MG is a permanent lifelong chronic disease- meaning, that you can treat or have the symptoms go away, but whenever the bird gets stressed again, the symptoms will keep coming back or get worse. All birds (even recovered birds) remain lifetime long carriers of the MG bacteria, spreading and shedding it through their feces, feathers, dander, respiratory secretions and other bodily fluids. This is a serious permanent lifetime disease of poultry and is incurable, but treatable with antibiotics. Since MG is caused by a bacteria, antibiotics can help keep symptoms at bay until the symptoms resurface whenever birds become stressed again. Keep in mind that over-use and/or misuse of antibiotics also creates antibiotic-resistant bacteria, making the disease harder to treat than before. It’s critical in any livestock animal, especially poultry, to get any sick or symptomatic birds tested to find out which specific disease they have as soon as possible. That being said, most choose to cull all birds, disinfect and start over fresh. If you’d rather not, then the other option is to keep a closed flock- no new birds into your flock and no birds leave your sick flock. If you choose to start over, always quarantine any new birds that you decide to bring into your flock, 30 day quarantine isn’t always enough, therefore, it’s best to do a 60 day quarantine AWAY from your healthy birds, in another area.



Here's more information about MG:


https://extension.umd.edu/sites/extension.umd.edu/files/_docs/programs/poultry/FS-1008 Recognizing and Preventing Mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG) Infecti....pdf


https://www.freedomrangerhatchery.com/blog/protecting-your-flock-what-you-need-to-know-about-mg-ms/


https://afarmgirlinthemaking.com/respiratory-conditions-poultry-mycoplasma-in-chickens/


https://www.maine.gov/dacf/ahw/animal_health/documents/backyardpoultry/Mycoplasma Factsheet.pdf

https://www.oie.int/doc/ged/D9107.PDF


I hope this helps!

Thank you for the info (and sorry for the slow response--I hadn't noticed this)! I was worried about CRD being behind this. After writing this post I began applying colloidal silver to the eye in question and noticed improvement pretty quickly. Kept it up for a week and then it was gone (and it only ever was intermittent). She never showed any other symptoms, nor have my other birds. I realize this could've been mild CRD, but even if so, this is my first flock of 7 and they are like my pets I don't plan on giving any away or taking any in, and will be happy to see them through their lives and then sterilize everything thoroughly before my next chicken squad. Down the line I may consult a vet to see what strains they're carrying--so thanks for all of the info! I really, really appreciate it

 

[Myrshine]

Thank you for the info (and sorry for the slow response--I hadn't noticed this)! I was worried about CRD being behind this. After writing this post I began applying colloidal silver to the eye in question and noticed improvement pretty quickly. Kept it up for a week and then it was gone (and it only ever was intermittent). She never showed any other symptoms, nor have my other birds. I realize this could've been mild CRD, but even if so, this is my first flock of 7 and they are like my pets I don't plan on giving any away or taking any in, and will be happy to see them through their lives and then sterilize everything thoroughly before my next chicken squad. Down the line I may consult a vet to see what strains they're carrying--so thanks for all of the info! I really, really appreciate it

I hope they get well asap!!