Single ongoing eye bubble; anything I should worry about/can try?

[porokelle]

Hi ya'll,

I've got one 2+ year old Orpington. She's lowest on the pecking order and very much smaller than her sisters.
But, her sisters have had some sort of infection go through the flock from around November until two weeks ago - mainly showing up as sour crop - we also had a few shell less eggs, ascities like behavior in one girl, and typical bumble foot.

But this girl, a champ, no signs of illness at all - except - a single eye bubble in her right eye. Which she's had on and off for three weeks.

No sneezing, no other liquids or mucus. She is missing all feathers from keel to butt, but it's summer here (New Zealand) and they all are a bit on the broody side.

They've all been drinking (I'm rotating with fresh water in 3 watering stations) ACV, VetRX, other poultri support in their water on and off for the last three months and she had a de-worming treatment 1.5 months ago.

Any idea what I could try or what it could be? It's just a single bubble, I notice it at dinner time when I sit with them and hand feed some greens. Maybe her eating does something to push a bubble out.

We've just never seen it before everyone started getting sick. And having to go through 3 months of sick chickens, I'm trying to keep on top of things in case we end up with 5 out of 5 sick...

Thanks!

 

[Eggcessive]

Can you post a picture of her face the next time you see the bubble? Bubbles or foam in one eye can be a sign of conjunctivitis. Testing would be needed to find out if it is something contagious such as MG (mycoplasma.) If her eye doesn’t appear sunken or have a lot of pink tissue showing, I probably would not worry too much.

 

[dawg53]

It could be something in your environment causing the bubble.
However, since you've dealt with previous sickness in your flock, bubble(s) in the eye(s) is a telltale sign of Mycoplasma Gallisepticum (MG). Once birds are infected, they are carriers for life and stress can bring out symptoms. Lowest in the pecking order can be a stressor for your hen for sure.

 

[Penpal]

That sort of thing can be caused by a vitamin C deficiency. I would use Thompson's buffered crystal Vitamin C. I use it on my dogs and you can decide the dosage. For a chicken, one pinch once a day would not be too much.

 

[porokelle]

Can you post a picture of her face the next time you see the bubble? Bubbles or foam in one eye can be a sign of conjunctivitis. Testing would be needed to find out if it is something contagious such as MG (mycoplasma.) If her eye doesn’t appear sunken or have a lot of pink tissue showing, I probably would not worry too much.

Thanks!

I'll try to get a picture but there wasn't a bubble last night. I can take a picture of just her face without - it looks pretty normal other than she has more scabs than the others from being lowest on the hierarchy and getting a few nips.

But it's not the bubbly foam I've seen with MG pics. It's one single bubble. Eye looks perfectly normal otherwise.

I did remember that one of the other girls had a single bubble once about a month ago too. Maybe it's just how they eat food or a low key symptom of this ongoing infection.

 

[porokelle]

That sort of thing can be caused by a vitamin C deficiency. I would use Thompson's buffered crystal Vitamin C. I use it on my dogs and you can decide the dosage. For a chicken, one pinch once a day would not be too much.

They're free range and get a variety of green so we assumed they always got enough vitamin C, but maybe since she's low on the hierarchy she doesn't get as much. It doesn't help she's a picky eater. I'll see what I can get here to try.

 

[Penpal]

Solaray makes powdered C, so does Thompson's.

 

[porokelle]

Solaray makes powdered C, so does Thompson's.

Do you put it in their water or food?

 

[Penpal]

Their food. This is how I give it to the dogs, too. They like the taste.

 

[Eggcessive]

Most chicken feed is well balanced and has vitamin C. I would not worry about the occasional bubble, as it could be a chronic condition. If you ever get a picture of it ,the
at would be good.