unsure what to do about old eye issues, any advice appreciated

[froggyphore]

hello! i have four 1 1/2 yr old hens, and i noticed about 5 months ago that 2 had swollen/inflamed eyes & cheeks and a slight foamy discharge in the eyes (1 on each chick) i tried to get them treatment at the time, but couldnt find any vets in my area that treat chickens. i helped them eat and gave them space to relax during the day & the symptoms completely cleared up after a week. after observing them since then the only odd things ive noticed are occasional malformed eggs (shelless, hairline cracks that had formed and closed before laying, bumps, & body check eggs) for about a month, but i believe this was due to dietary changes & sleep disruption. id assumed it was just an eye infection or allergy that had cleared up but im still worried it was something dangerous so id love any advice/idea what it could be? it only affected my two brahmas, my other girls are of a different breed & showed no symptoms. thanks in advance for any help

 

[slordaz]

what are they being fed including treats?
egg issues can be caused by illness, nutritional deficiency or molt.
Hard to say about the eye issue with out a picture of it.
Gonna tag some of the more experienced people .
@oldhenlikesdogs
@Wyorp Rock

 

[froggyphore]

what are they being fed including treats?
egg issues can be caused by illness, nutritional deficiency or molt.
Hard to say about the eye issue with out a picture of it.
Gonna tag some of the more experienced people .
@oldhenlikesdogs
@Wyorp Rock

theyre fed blue seal chicken feed, yard forage, and occasional berries, fruit, greens, & bird seed. (i look up all the plants in my area & all treats to make sure everything is safe & wont cause a reaction) and their own eggs boiled (teflon free pot). they are molting now & only lay about 5 eggs a week and all but one have looked normal. (i found a 1/2 in long one in the yard lol)
unfortunately i couldnt get a picture of the discharge bc the hen was unwilling to open her eye much but heres a picture of the swelling:

IMG_9410

• froggyphore
• Sep 21, 2019
• 2

it was on the right eye for this girl & the left for the other, who had a very inflamed top eyelid with no discharge.
thank you so much for responding!!

 

[slordaz]

ok if they are molting that could be why eggs are off as they can produce eggs or feathers and sometimes molting will cause some kinks in the eggs for a week before or after they start back up, so wouldn't be to worried about the eggs during molt. I tend to keep mine on flock raiser with oyster shell or egg shell crushed on the side, as it's higher in protein so molts don't seem to take as long.

Does the eye issue keep coming back? Any sign of injury, such as a scratch or peck that could have gotten infected?

I also looked up the info so they don't have to on the feed if this is the one your feeding as it's the only one that came up under that brand. Hopefully one of the eggperts will answer your question about the eye from your description and picture shortly.

Home Fresh Extra Egg Layer is a high-energy, calcium-fortified grain diet formulated specifically to support egg production in layers. As a complete, balanced diet, no additional nutrient supplementation is required. It's a natural choice for egg-production for laying chickens, ducks, geese, turkeys and game birds.

• Protein: 16%; Fat: 3%; Fiber: 4%
• Vegetarian diet providing wholesome grains and healthy plant proteins
• Naturally balanced with added amino acids, minerals and vitamins
• Locked Formula: no substitution of inferior ingredients
• NutriVantage technology for added immune support

Ingredients:
Ground Corn, Soybean Meal, Processed Grain By-Products, Calcium Carbonate, Monocalcium Phosphate, Dicalcium Phosphate, Vegetable Oil, Mineral Oil, Salt, Roughage Products, Vitamin A Acetate, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamin E Supplement, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (Source Of Vitamin K Activity), Riboflavin Supplement, Niacin Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Folic Acid, Biotin, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Thiamine Mononitrate, Choline Chloride, DL-Methionine, L-Lysine, Reed-Sedge Peat, Salt Of Butyric Acid, Dried Bacillus Subtilis Fermentation Product, Dried Trichoderma Longibrachiatum Fermentation Product, Dried Bacillus Amyloliquefaciens Fermentation Product, Dried Aspergillus Oryzae Fermentation Extract (Phytase), Hydrolyzed Yeast, Calcium Iodate, Copper Sulfate, Ferrous Sulfate, Manganese Sulfate, Zinc Sulfate, Copper Amino Acid Complex, Manganese Amino Acid Complex, Zinc Amino Acid Complex, Selenium Yeast.

Guaranteed Analysis:
Crude Protein (min.) 16.0%
Lysine (min.) 0.75%
Methionine (min.) 0.37%
Crude Fat (min.) 3.0%
Crude Fiber (max.) 4.0%
Calcium (Ca) (min.) 3.3%
Calcium (Ca) (max.) 4.3%
Phosphorus (P) (min.) 0.6%
Salt (NaCl) (min.) 0.2%
Salt (NaCl) (max.) 0.7%
Vitamin A (min.) 4,275 IU/lb.
Vitamin E (min.) 21 IU/lb.
Feeding Recommendations:
Home Fresh Extra Egg is designed to be fed as the sole diet to laying hens, turkeys, ducks, game birds and geese.
For additional feeding recommendations consult your local KNG Representative.
The suggested feeding program is intended solely as a guide. The variables of management, environment and breed may dictate changes in the birds' requirements.

 

[froggyphore]

thank you so much!! the issue only occured once & i checked them both for injuries/pecks but didnt find any.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

four 1 1/2 yr old hens, and i noticed about 5 months ago that 2 had swollen/inflamed eyes & cheeks and a slight foamy discharge in the eyes (1 on each chick

i helped them eat and gave them space to relax during the day & the symptoms completely cleared up after a week. after observing them since then the only odd things ive noticed are occasional malformed eggs (shelless, hairline cracks that had formed and closed before laying, bumps, & body check eggs) for about a month, but i believe this was due to dietary changes & sleep disruption. id assumed it was just an eye infection or allergy that had cleared up but im still worried it was something dangerous

Without testing, it would be hard to know what caused the eye swelling, but since there were 2 of them and you had some odd eggs for a while afterward, you might be dealing with a respiratory illness. Mycoplasma and Infectious Bronchitis are fairly common. Infectious Bronchitis is a virus and will usually resolve on it's own after a few weeks unless it's complicated with secondary infection. Mycoplasma is a bacteria like disease, milder strains can clear up without treatment, other times an antibiotic may be needed.
Your state lab can perform testing or you can use an independent lab like Zoologix to have testing.

Respiratory diseases impact egg laying - with Infectious Bronchitis albumen can be watery and shell quality can be wrinkly. Mycoplasma can affect the oviduct and cause some infection later on and of course this affects production quality as well.
As mentioned by @slordaz there are other causes that affect production and shell quality as well - internal and external parasites (worms/lice/mites), nutritional deficiency, genetics, shell gland disorders and stress/disturbances in the flock are a few.

If they currently are not showing any symptoms and egg quality is good - I would continue to keep doing what you're doing. If they become sick again, then it would be good to find out more about the cause.

 

[froggyphore]

Without testing, it would be hard to know what caused the eye swelling, but since there were 2 of them and you had some odd eggs for a while afterward, you might be dealing with a respiratory illness. Mycoplasma and Infectious Bronchitis are fairly common. Infectious Bronchitis is a virus and will usually resolve on it's own after a few weeks unless it's complicated with secondary infection. Mycoplasma is a bacteria like disease, milder strains can clear up without treatment, other times an antibiotic may be needed.
Your state lab can perform testing or you can use an independent lab like Zoologix to have testing.

Respiratory diseases impact egg laying - with Infectious Bronchitis albumen can be watery and shell quality can be wrinkly. Mycoplasma can affect the oviduct and cause some infection later on and of course this affects production quality as well.
As mentioned by @slordaz there are other causes that affect production and shell quality as well - internal and external parasites (worms/lice/mites), nutritional deficiency, genetics, shell gland disorders and stress/disturbances in the flock are a few.

If they currently are not showing any symptoms and egg quality is good - I would continue to keep doing what you're doing. If they become sick again, then it would be good to find out more about the cause.

thank you so much! ive checked for external parasites but i dont know much about internal so ill see what i can do about that those were the only issues but ill definitely try to get them tested.

 

[slordaz]

thank you so much! ive checked for external parasites but i dont know much about internal so ill see what i can do about that those were the only issues but ill definitely try to get them tested.

easiest way as most of them you won't see is find a local vet that will do a fecal float test, it's not usually expensive if they will run the test without seeing the bird.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

thank you so much! ive checked for external parasites but i dont know much about internal so ill see what i can do about that those were the only issues but ill definitely try to get them tested.

If you can't find a vet to do a fecal float, check with your state lab. Some states offer those services. What state do you live in, I can look your lab up for you.