What’s up with this chicken’s eye?

[Shugercube]

Not my chicken! But when I was at the county fair, I noticed all the Cornish there had weird funky looking eyes. I thought at first that maybe it was just a Cornish thing. But after googling, none of the healthy ones in the pics had eyes like that. So I’m curious what this is?? They ALL had some degree of this “growth” around their eyes.

As a side note, soooo many chickens there seemed so unhealthy and sad/stressed. It was so sad seeing them in those conditions. Is that super common for fair “shows”? I’d never been to one before, and it was actually quite shocking how poorly these animals were kept, and even more shocking to me how some of these unhealthy looking birds had won top prizes!? Anyway, it was just really sad and made me angry!

Also another side note- I wiped myself down with disinfectant wipes, disinfected my shoes and changed clothes before going home, and went straight to my shower when I got home. Because ewww. Whatever may or may not have been floating around there was not anything I wanted to bring home to my babies! I wear certain coop shoes and clothes when going to my coop anyway, but i didn’t want to accidentally track anything home that could contaminate my coop outfits.

 

[MysteryChicken]

Looks like either MG, or Infectious Coryza.

 

[Shugercube]

Looks like either MG, or Infectious Coryza.

Ugh thats awful. Why would anyone bring an obviously sick bird to a fair to hang out in close quarters with other birds?? Is that a common thing for people to do?? Seems so irresponsible!!

Like I said, the whole thing made me angry, it was more like a hospital ward than a poultry show. It was sickening, all those poor babies!

 

[Faithful flock]

Poor little one pretty sure that's MG, or Infectious Coryza.

 

[MysteryChicken]

Ugh thats awful. Why would you bring an obviously sick bird to a fair to hang out in close quarters with other birds?? Is that a common thing for people to do?? Seems so irresponsible!!

Like I said, the whole thing made me angry, it was more like a hospital ward than a poultry show. It was sickening, all those poor babies!

I don't know why'd anyone would wanna take sick birds to a fair. Though, I've never gone to one myself.
Definitely very irresponsible.

 

[Shugercube]

I don't know why'd anyone would wanna take sick birds to a fair. Though, I've never gone to one myself.
Definitely very irresponsible.

Makes me definitely not want to show any of my birds at the fair! Not that I could now, pretty sure we have Marek’s, but knowing the conditions of birds that were allowed to participate, and even won prizes, I wouldn’t want my birds exposed to any of that! And a sick bird shouldn’t be allowed to participate, much less win a prize, imo.

Maybe I need to look into how all of that works for my county fair. And maybe try and get some rules changed, because thats just dangerous!

Maybe its just my naïveté, and maybe everyone who “shows” at a fair goes into it with the expectation that their birds may be exposed to something, but that just doesn’t seem right, and if sick/unhealthy birds are DQ’d then in theory people would be less inclined to bring them in the first place!

 

[MysteryChicken]

Makes me definitely not want to show any of my birds at the fair! Not that I could now, pretty sure we have Marek’s, but knowing the conditions of birds that were allowed to participate, and even won prizes, I wouldn’t want my birds exposed to any of that! And a sick bird shouldn’t be allowed to participate, much less win a prize, imo.

Maybe I need to look into how all of that works for my county fair. And maybe try and get some rules changed, because thats just dangerous!

Maybe its just my naïveté, and maybe everyone who “shows” at a fair goes into it with the expectation that their birds may be exposed to something, but that just doesn’t seem right, and if sick/unhealthy birds are DQ’d then in theory people would be less inclined to bring them in the first place!

Yes, definitely check into the rules. Sounds like a good idea.

 

[Eggcessive]

Unfortunately people do bring contagious diseases to fairs, chicken shows, and swap meets. Some are naive, don’t care, or trying to make money. There are posts here from those who want help curing their chicken’s illness so they can take their chicken to 4H, etc. I went to the Ohio National show once 10 years ago, and I think they test chickens there. But I could see people selling birds out of their cars. The owners of those birds go into the fairs, shows, etc. So, I would never show birds, but if I went again, I would use strict biosecurity so I didn’t bring something home. People should also do that going to a show or fair. If I saw a sick bird, I would report it to an official. Last year many shows were cancelled due to an outbreak of disease.

 

[Shugercube]

Unfortunately people do bring contagious diseases to fairs, chicken shows, and swap meets. Some are naive, don’t care, or trying to make money. There are posts here from those who want help curing their chicken’s illness so they can take their chicken to 4H, etc. I went to the Ohio National show once 10 years ago, and I think they test chickens there. But I could see people selling birds out of their cars. The owners of those birds go into the fairs, shows, etc. So, I would never show birds, but if I went again, I would use strict biosecurity so I didn’t bring something home. People should also do that going to a show or fair. If I saw a sick bird, I would report it to an official. Last year many shows were cancelled due to an outbreak of disease.

Makes me so sad and mad for those birds!

 

[Shugercube]

So I did find this in the rules!

Interestingly (or not?), MANY of the first prize winners were NOT SOP in any way, shape or form. There is also a clause stating that if there is no competition, judges reserve the right to award a prize based on quality, or no prize at all if the entry doesn’t meet qualifications. There were maybe 3 birds in that whole thing that deserved a ribbon. Maybe.