Puffy eyes out of nowhere.

[BastyPutt]

Am I reaching? Maybe. Thanks again for your thoughtful responses

I certainly can't say for sure, but I think with the onset of more than a few chickens having identical swelling, I don't think that it is smoke related.

I also think that we'd see more similar posts here on BYC of chickens with swollen eyes in the area. A few weeks ago there were a bunch of posts with concerned folks who were asking for advice in keeping their flock, safe with the smoke. I would expect a lot of those same folks to be posting swollen eyes here if that is the case.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I will say in the meantime, if the vet doesn't prescribe an antibiotic, you'll want to see if you can find them ASAP (if you don't have any on hand). Good ones are tylosin, doxycycline, and oxytetracycline in the event it is MG or sulfadimethoxine for Coryza.

FishMox? Amoxicillin for MG? Nah, no cell wall.

@Eggcessive what about fishmox here? Usually you have a pretty good chance of finding it somewhere.

 

[megansmagnificents]

FishMox? Amoxicillin for MG? Nah, no cell wall.

Update:
Traveling vet visit went well. Much more informed / invasive and had all birds looked at. She's a Cornell grad & PhD studies in Mycoplasma.
She does not feel it is avian flu as they seem far too healthy outside the swelling.
(I know this may have seemed like a panic at the disco worry - but I happen to know someone 2 hours away that had to euthanize 300 birds last month. I almost gave my accidental roo to her so he would've been one of them - so it was a little topical for me).
She is pointing to MG or Coryza.
That said, with her MG experience she felt the transmission rate of overnight seemed too aggressive.
Long story short, she treated the flock with zero trepidation and understood the need to do so with utmost efficiency. She gave me Doxy and something to help with inflammation + antibacterial eyedrops.
Obviously still waiting on all viral / bacterial tests - but fecal tests are clean for parasites.
As of now all is status quo. Hoping meds kick in soon and I start to see progress with the swelling.
At this point I've learned a few things and an in office visit with the exception of something isolated like a case of bad bumble foot would be a waste of time, resources, and is too stressful for the birds.
The only thing the in office visit afforded this time was a one day leg up on getting the tests done.
So, I am somewhat relieved. But it's still a bit mysterious. The good thing is they're not getting worse.

 

[Auntiejessi3]

 

[Eggcessive]

Amoxicillin with not treat MG. The drugs that will are Tylosin, Oxytetracyline, Denagard, and enrofloxacin. Doxycycline is a member of the tetracycline family and also will treat it.

FishMox? Amoxicillin for MG? Nah, no cell wall.

I tried to post this last night, but forgot to hit the post button.

 

[megansmagnificents]

Further update since onset for anyone that may be experiencing this:

My girls are on dose #6 of Doxy. All energy, behavior, laying is totally normal still.
They have no eye discharge and never really did - it's just been the inflammation.
No odor either.
It has only ever effected one eye on each hen who got inflammation (attached are right / left / front view pics).
The swelling has been going down so the Doxy is definitely chipping away at it.
Still waiting on the tests from Cornell - hopefully this week.

For Doxy,
I was given both pill form and capsules for water (if I was having a hard time with pill-ing them). I tried it in the water but it does weird stuff & there are rules on what you can put it in:

- Use glass, stainless steel, or glazed pottery water drinkers
(do not use terracotta, plastic, or galvanized metal)

- Do not place medicated water in direct sunlight.

- Shade or shelter containers.

Even following these rules it was light brown and frothy. I aborted this altogether and started pill-ing them because there was no guarantee they would a.) want to drink it
or b.) drink enough to make it count.

I will give a further update once the test results come in.

 

[Auntiejessi3]

Further update since onset for anyone that may be experiencing this:

My girls are on dose #6 of Doxy. All energy, behavior, laying is totally normal still.
They have no eye discharge and never really did - it's just been the inflammation.
No odor either.
It has only ever effected one eye on each hen who got inflammation (attached are right / left / front view pics).
The swelling has been going down so the Doxy is definitely chipping away at it.
Still waiting on the tests from Cornell - hopefully this week.

For Doxy,
I was given both pill form and capsules for water (if I was having a hard time with pill-ing them). I tried it in the water but it does weird stuff & there are rules on what you can put it in:

- Use glass, stainless steel, or glazed pottery water drinkers
(do not use terracotta, plastic, or galvanized metal)

- Do not place medicated water in direct sunlight.

- Shade or shelter containers.

Even following these rules it was light brown and frothy. I aborted this altogether and started pill-ing them because there was no guarantee they would a.) want to drink it
or b.) drink enough to make it count.

I will give a further update once the test results come in.

Poor girls! I'm glad the meds are helping

 

[ChickDiversity]

Further update since onset for anyone that may be experiencing this:

My girls are on dose #6 of Doxy. All energy, behavior, laying is totally normal still.
They have no eye discharge and never really did - it's just been the inflammation.
No odor either.
It has only ever effected one eye on each hen who got inflammation (attached are right / left / front view pics).
The swelling has been going down so the Doxy is definitely chipping away at it.
Still waiting on the tests from Cornell - hopefully this week.

For Doxy,
I was given both pill form and capsules for water (if I was having a hard time with pill-ing them). I tried it in the water but it does weird stuff & there are rules on what you can put it in:

- Use glass, stainless steel, or glazed pottery water drinkers
(do not use terracotta, plastic, or galvanized metal)

- Do not place medicated water in direct sunlight.

- Shade or shelter containers.

Even following these rules it was light brown and frothy. I aborted this altogether and started pill-ing them because there was no guarantee they would a.) want to drink it
or b.) drink enough to make it count.

I will give a further update once the test results come in.

Hi @megansmagnificents , thank you sharing this. I have one chicken that going through exactly the same symptoms. Only one side of her eye has been affected. We have been putting saline water 3 times a day and the swelling has reduced but still there is some. So, I am curious to know your test results and what it shows.

 

[megansmagnificents]

Hi @megansmagnificents , thank you sharing this. I have one chicken that going through exactly the same symptoms. Only one side of her eye has been affected. We have been putting saline water 3 times a day and the swelling has reduced but still there is some. So, I am curious to know your test results and what it shows.

Hi there,

I’m very sorry you are going through this - it’s a bummer. Are there any other symptoms happening?

I don’t have every test result but I do have most of them.
The tests are negative for literally EVERYTHING viral including Mycoplasma - which was a suspect. The outstanding test / one to watch is Coryza. It’s growing in a dish & incomplete. But they are exhibiting no other Coryza symptoms (eye discharge, smell, breathing issues, etc) whatsoever.

For me as you may have read, it worked through my flock fast.
3 girls got it pretty good, 2 had a little bit of inflammation. 3 had no symptoms whatsoever. Assuming the Coryza test is also negative, this may end up being a bizarre mystery. The only thing I can come up with is the CA wildfires inspired some type of bacterial infection that they shared. The smoke was really bad here. I haven’t seen other complaints about it - but it doesn’t mean it’s not possible. Or it’s a raging case of conjunctivitis. An avian specialist wants to look over the whole case once all the tests are in. I don’t know what that means exactly - but 2 vets are rather dumbfounded by it (and one is an official "avian vet" and examined all my girls).

For their eyes, I have been using Vetericyn Plus Antimicrobial Eye Wash & also the Gel. I assume it’s been helping some - but it’s probably the Doxy that’s doing most of the work.

If this is just one chicken and isolated, it could be a sting, or an acute injury / incident. But inflammation usually means respiratory and while it is only one chicken showing symptoms now - it would be important to look over your flock a few times a day (which I am sure you are doing).

I will update once I get the full reports.

 

[ChickDiversity]

Hi there,

I’m very sorry you are going through this - it’s a bummer. Are there any other symptoms happening?

I don’t have every test result but I do have most of them.
The tests are negative for literally EVERYTHING viral including Mycoplasma - which was a suspect. The outstanding test / one to watch is Coryza. It’s growing in a dish & incomplete. But they are exhibiting no other Coryza symptoms (eye discharge, smell, breathing issues, etc) whatsoever.

For me as you may have read, it worked through my flock fast.
3 girls got it pretty good, 2 had a little bit of inflammation. 3 had no symptoms whatsoever. Assuming the Coryza test is also negative, this may end up being a bizarre mystery. The only thing I can come up with is the CA wildfires inspired some type of bacterial infection that they shared. The smoke was really bad here. I haven’t seen other complaints about it - but it doesn’t mean it’s not possible. Or it’s a raging case of conjunctivitis. An avian specialist wants to look over the whole case once all the tests are in. I don’t know what that means exactly - but 2 vets are rather dumbfounded by it (and one is an official "avian vet" and examined all my girls).

For their eyes, I have been using Vetericyn Plus Antimicrobial Eye Wash & also the Gel. I assume it’s been helping some - but it’s probably the Doxy that’s doing most of the work.

If this is just one chicken and isolated, it could be a sting, or an acute injury / incident. But inflammation usually means respiratory and while it is only one chicken showing symptoms now - it would be important to look over your flock a few times a day (which I am sure you are doing).

I will update once I get the full reports.

Thank you so much! I pretty much separated her the moment I saw this symptom on her and came here and read your post. I started using saline water along with that. We looked for Doxy around the feed stores but didn't find any. I guess I have to look online. The other girls have shown no symptom and even the chicken with this condition is eating and drinking pretty well. The inflammation is also decreasing as well(picture below). No other symptoms just like you. Very bizarre.

I will look forward to the full analysis once you have it. Since your location is very close to me, I feel it might be the same thing whatever it is. Thanks!