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I just noticed that my old lady hen Hagar (6.5 years) has bubbling fluid coming out of the front corner of her eyes. Other than flicking her head to get the bubbles out, she is acting very vigorous, hungry and healthy. No coughing or sneezing. None of my other birds have this.

Are the bubbling eyes ALWAYS a sign of a contagious illness (in other words, should I run for the ax?), or could this be non-contagious? I will probably cull her anyway, but should I be desperately worried about my other 37 birds? This has never happened before to any of my chickens. Their coop and yard are bone dry this time of year. I intend to start up my incubator Aug. 11th, and also ordered 25 chicks to arrive Sept. 2nd. Not a good time for contagious illness! Your advice is greatly appreciated!

You mean like foam? I had a rooster like this but only on one eye,( he had a kind of wart on the upper eyelid in addition to this), it was not contagious in his case. It seemed to be worse in windy weather.

Yes, Wieslaw, a bubbly foam. Her eyes are wide open, not swollen shut, and she appears otherwise healthy. Bossing all the other chickens around, and stealing all the best food! The foam is in both eyes. I am praying it is not a contagious condition. Thank you for your quick response. Hoping for more advice soon, as I should probably cull within a couple of hours.

Thank you

Contagious, probably. If so, the rest of your flock has already been exposed, so forget about culling. Sounds like Mycoplasma, but the same symptoms could indicate others as well. If you expose the chicks at an early age they will probably have a mild case and then get over it. The ones that don't recover are the genetic weaklings and should be culled.

I agree. By the time the symptoms appear, it's already had a chance to spread.

IMO, we are all far too terrified of disease in our chooks. Think kids - do you panic with every sniffle? Treat your birds well, give them good living conditions, and their immune systems will be strong and robust. They'll fight off most bugs just fine, and be better off for it, just like kids.

Well, Hagar has bright shiny eyes this morning, and now looks perfectly healthy. I could cull her, but if everyone is already exposed to a disease, then I will wait a few days and see how things progress, just out of scientific curiosity. One more episode of foamy eyes, and she immediately gets the ax, and if any other chicken gets the same symptom, then I will know the worst has happened, and I have to cull everyone and disinfect, etc.

Darn it all, I was intending to gather hatching eggs for my new incubator on August 1st! Thank you everyone for your input, and best of luck with your own flocks!

Update, Hagar got the eye foam this afternoon, so she was culled and given to the bald eagles. So now it is a matter of waiting and watching the others. If they have no symptoms, can I gather eggs for hatching?

I've had several chickens with bubbly eyes. Dry Fowl Pox. Carried by mosquitos. All the chickens get it and get over it. Treat the eye with normal saline cleanses followed by an opthomological antibiotic ointment.