Swelling Under Third Eyelid

[SunHwaKwon]

I have a young pullet that is essentially wild. She and another pullet sleep in the tree by the run and during the day the entire flock free ranges from 7am until they go to roost a little after 8. Anyway, several weeks ago I noticed this girl's eyes were looking strange, as if the nictitating membrane was unable to fully retract; little by little it was persistently covering more and more of her eye. In the past week it started swelling, and now it is to the point that she can't fly, I assume, because 3 days ago she started going into the coop at night instead of into the tree. Now I've finally been able to examine her but I'm having trouble figuring out what it is so I'm looking for input.

She has no respiratory symptoms - no discharge from eyes or nose, no bubbles or crust in the eye, no difficulty breathing. There is edema in the area, but she is also approaching sexual maturity so that could be contributing to the redness. I tried to look for worms and I'm not seeing anything but I'm also far sighted and don't wear glasses. I was reading about Coryza this morning, but it says it has a smell and discharge and she has neither, and no one else has symptoms even though this issue has been going on for weeks.

I've done 3 days of Tylan and last night I decided to try the VetRx eyeworm treatment, just in case, since I already have it on my kit. So far I am not seeing results from either treatment. I'm going to pick up eyewash today to clean her eyes.

When I did the VetRx I could not get it to run from the eyes. I think the ducts are too clogged... But then I would expect drainage from the nose rather than this backup of fluid.

I appreciate your thoughts and suggestions. She doesn't seem uncomfortable except for not being able to see, and she's eating, drinking, alert, and active.

I wonder if steam might help open things up. Just a thought...

I am prepared to put her down, if needed.

 

[Eggcessive]

Wow, that is pretty significant conjunctivitis, especially in the left eye. Usually eye swelling can be from mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG,) but it normally affects one eye. With that much swelling in MG or with coryza, one would normally see some type of drainage or crusts around eyes.


I am wondering if there could possibly be a tumor inside her sinus or cranium that is causing all of the swelling. If that is the case, nothing is going to help.

How much Tylan were you giving? Dosage is 0.2 ml per pound 3 times a day, or 0.3 ml per pound 2 times a day. Many give it orally or by injection. Denagard is another drug used for MG. Sulfa antibiotics like Albon, SMZ-TMP, sulfadimethoxine can be used to treat coryza.

 

[SunHwaKwon]

Alright I just wanted to provide an update. Tylan, gallimycin, vetRx, and Microcyn ophthalmic gel (not all at once) were not producing any results and I kept telling myself I should put her down but she seemed so healthy and I didn't want it to end up being something simple upon postmortem examination. I finally got over my squeamishness (even as a former vet tech I HATE pus and the thought of it squirting out is nauseating) so I gently touched them (both were very very large by this point) and they were very firm but mobile. So after some thought I pressed down near the inner corner of the eye, moving toward the exposed eye, and these two nasty hunks of dried compacted lymph/pus came out.

I'm not sure why this was a bilateral situation or what exactly caused it. I put some ophthalmic gel in both eyes and put her back in isolation where I plan to keep her for about another week just so I can be sure it doesn't start to recur.

I did break them open and there was flakey layering to their structure but no obvious cause of irritation on the inside of them.

 

[SunHwaKwon]

Oh and yes I cleaned and disinfected everything after.

 

[Eggcessive]

Thank you for the update. Chicken pus after it sits there for a bit is solid and cheezy, and those bits can keep the infection from clearing. So good that you got them out. Hopefully, she will be fine, although conjunctivitis and sinus infection (especially if it is from MG or coryza) can come back in times of stress, such as molting or extreme weather.

 

[Kiki]

How do the eyes look today?

 

[SunHwaKwon]

Completely normal! They were very stretched out at first so I was worried about irritants getting back up there. So far she is not showing any sign of recurrence so hopefully we are in the clear.

Strangely enough, the lumps had started to shrink with the Tylan50 but never disappeared. I find that odd since they were external to her body. Maybe it was just coincidence. After I finished the course, they began to grow again, much faster in both eyes.

I bet if she could smile or wag her tail, she would. She seems pretty happy to be able to see again and I wish I'd figured it out sooner.

 

[Kiki]

Great news!