Swollen eyeball / white matter ????? ( Disturbing Image Warning )

[oldshue]

Found one of my hens with a swollen eyeball a couple of weeks ago... I left it alone thinking it might clear on its own... it did not and so finally got the courage to look at it today...it was so swollen it could not clode and there was a white solid discharge in it.. tried to clean some of it out and got to thinking it may be a rotten eyeball (ugh) ... so the questions are 1)what is it ? 2)if it is a rotten eyeball should I excavate it and suture it closed OR put the hen out of it's misery...it smelled horrible....but she is still eating and has one good eye, but not moving as much as the other hens... let me know your opinions... JO


Hen's head is upside down in photo ....

 

[TalkALittle]

Looks like really thick pus. I'd try to irrigate it and remove as much pus as possible. Then flush the eye really well. Hold off on suturing anything up until you can see in there. I wouldn't be surprised if some antibiotics are called for in an instance like this. I'm sure you'll get some more answers from other, more experienced members.

 

[Eggcessive]

Welcome to BYC. That is pus in the eye, probably from a respiratory infection, such as MG or coryza which can cause a bad odor. It won't get better until you squeeze and pick out the pus, then flush it with saline or Vetericyn eye wash. You may need cotton balls, tweezers, and QTips to get it all out. An extra pair of hands would help. Your other chickens may be carriers if it is MG or coryza. Tylan, oxytetracycline are used for many respiratory illnesses. Sulmet and sulfadimethoxine are often used to treat coryza. Testing would be a good idea to see what you are dealing with.

 

[mg15]

how is she doing

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Found one of my hens with a swollen eyeball a couple of weeks ago... I left it alone thinking it might clear on its own... it did not and so finally got the courage to look at it today...it was so swollen it could not clode and there was a white solid discharge in it.. tried to clean some of it out and got to thinking it may be a rotten eyeball (ugh) ... so the questions are 1)what is it ? 2)if it is a rotten eyeball should I excavate it and suture it closed OR put the hen out of it's misery...it smelled horrible....but she is still eating and has one good eye, but not moving as much as the other hens... let me know your opinions... JO


Hen's head is upside down in photo ....

It could be a parasite spread by roaches or other insects.

 

[LeafBlade12345]

It could be a parasite spread by roaches or other insects. 

Eyeworm? It is quite rare, but it's a possibility.

 

[Eggcessive]

That is not eye worm in my opinion. Eye worm is usually found in tropical areas where the surinam cockroach is found. Eye worms are 1/8 inch long and can be seen in the eye. The eye will itch, and the chicken may scratch the eye out. There are is a bogus video on YouTube about someone squeezing an eye worm out of a chickens eye, but what they are doing is just squeezing pus out of the eye. Pus forms there either from an injury or infection, most times being a respiratory disease. Eye worm can be treated with Valbazen given orally, and 1/2 strength given in the eye, once and both repeated in 10 days.Here is a good thread to read and a good link about the common respiratory diseases including MG and coryza:
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1071718/nasty-eye-infection-pics

 

[LeafBlade12345]

How is your hen OP?

Regards,
Leaf

 

[chxchic]

I just went through this exact thing. I did saltwater presses to try and extract the gunk, used VetRx under her wings and on her nostrils for about a week there wasn't much improvement. I ended up taking her to the vet because you need to get in the eye with tweezers and pull all that gunk out and I didn't have the guts for that. After the vet cleaned her eye out I gave her medicated eye drops of Ciprofloxacn for about a week. The eye cleared up but I'm pretty sure she'll be blind in it forever.
None of my other chickens had any symptoms.
Here's before and after pictures:

[/IMG]
She typically keeps her wounded eye closed, but when its open it looks cloudy but healthy.
Honestly based off of my other chickens Behavior towards her I think she got pecked in the eye and it got infected. But I still treated her as if she had a respiratory illness. Hope this helps!

 

[chxchic]

Oops here's the before picture