Silkies with cataracts/glaucoma

[msdoolittle]

Last year, I had one of my Silkies go completely blind from what looked like a combination of glaucoma/cataracts. We had her put to sleep as the condition looked extremely painful.

This year, I am looking at one of my one year old Silkies and her eye is swollen and starting to get a blue haze. Of course this is my daughter's very favorite bird. No periorbital swelling (around the eye), just the eyeball itself. No respiratory disease, no reduction in egg laying or anything else indicating a pathogen at play here.

I just read that 24 hour light will cause glaucoma in chickens...first I have ever heard of such. I use a brooder lamp for all my babies, but now I'm thinking this is about to be changed immediately. Silkies already have large eyes as it is, so I am wondering if anyone else out there who raises them has seen this. It may also be genetic, I realize. These 2 hens could have been related.

 

[SilkiesnFrizzle]

I wish I could answer your question, but I actually had a Silkie with the very same eye problem. It was just as you described, the eye itself was glazed over and just the eyeball itself grew. I couldn't find an answer either so I'm curious if anyone has an answer.

 

[msdoolittle]

Exactly.

Initially, I was fearing something viral/bacterial in nature, but I have looked at this over and over and there are no other symptoms which would suggest such. I will be investing in a different form of heat for my babies from here on out, just in case this is the issue. I may be taking her to our vet and see what testing Texas A&M could recommend and what tests can be performed in-house. Most of what I have read is about conjunctivitis or blepharitis and there is an exudate from the eye/inflamed periocular tissues. This does not fit the bill.

If any other Silkie breeders have experienced this I would be highly interested in hearing if you found the cause.

This has only happened in 2 of my Silkies and both at a year old, but I want to nip this in the bud now.