Dialated eye on hen

[Pickles22]

I have a hen, who is about 3 years old. One of her eyes is really dialated, similar to one with Mareks disease. She doesnt have any other symptoms to Mareks, she seems healthy otherwise. At first I thought she was really excited for food, but the one eye stayed dialated. She acts just the same, I wondered if shes blind in one eye, but I don't know how to tell.

Any ideas of what's wrong?

 

[seminolewind]

One of mine had the same problem that look like yours. But I did find an injury on his wattles so check your chicken for a head injury like a peck. and his face swelled up.
That's just one idea. Could be an eye infection so put some antibiotic ointment on it. I usually schmear Bacitracin or polysporin it with no problems.
I think they get a tiny eye with Marek's or a "gray" eye. Most of the time in an adult I ;;ook for 2 symptoms like skinny , looking like she's eating but not, I would exhausted every other thing it could be before I think Marek's.

 

[seminolewind]

Quickly shine a flashlight on her eye and see if that makes it dilate.

 

[Eggcessive]

I would be tempted to say that it is ocular Mareks, but I am not an expert. In ocular Mareks there is a loss of color in the iris, as well as lymphatic infiltration which can affect the shape of the iris, and constriction and dilation of the pupil. Many pictures I have seen show a constricted or pinpoint pupil, or an irregular shaped pupil. But there are quite few pictures of dilated pupils with the greying or color loss in Mareks. The Partner in Avian Medicine site, if hou click on it and click on Mareks disease has quite a few pictures like the one below.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

She doesnt have any other symptoms to Mareks, she seems healthy otherwise.

Since the eye color is also clearly different than the normal eye... I to suspect it could be Marek's. No other symptoms have to present. Each bird has it's own immune system and no two may present exactly the same.

Since she is already there and well on in age... Consider getting a necropsy if/when she passes IF you want confirmation to help decide how to proceed in the future... Vaccinated birds NOT welcome here to hide the disease. There is also a mail in test that can be done with live birds.

To test sight in that eye... drop something on that side and see if she follows it.. like a cheerio or a meal worm. As long as she isn't having issues finding the food and water... she should be fine. Watch out for sour or slow crop. Fortunately... Marek's contracted later like this doesn't usually see the tumors develop that cause the paralysis... so it should not progress into that. As stated by the other poster also watch out for slow wasting... Keep nutrition high... consider using a flock raiser with oyster shell on the side if currently using "layer", as it's higher in amino acids... which to me equals better immune system support. Consider giving occasional probiotics or supplement of Rooster Booster brand Poultry Cell product.

Sorry you guys face this, hope your beauty still has a long, happy, and functional life!

 

[Eggcessive]

I also would recommend a necropsy someday if you lose her. I believe that @casportpony has dealt with ocular mareks in hens who had no other symptoms and who lived normal lives. Here is a website where you can get a $20 pcr blood test for Mareks by this lab:
http://www.vetdna.com/about-usIf you call them, they will give info on how to get it done. Your local vet might need to draw blood for serum. Let us know if you do this about how difficult or easy it was.

 

[Rainwing]

Years ago one of my robust hens became lethargic, emaciated and eventually became blind with both dilated eyes - no response to light. She later went into a coma and passed. That probably won't happen to your hen, she looks very lively.
Here's the pictures of her compared to other red sexlinks that I've owned. Note how her eyes are dilated despite flash + no reaction whatsoever to the flash. You could tell she was blind because she had no reaction to light, if you waved your hand or a q-tip in front of her eye, she wouldn't react. Would not even flinch if you kept snapping pictures. Try taking a picture of her eye with flash on and waving things in different fields of vision.
Rest of the flock and the next generations were fine and never ended up like her. Not sure what the cause was. I just attribute it to poor genetics.