Diseases

Disease of the respiratory tract:     1 Eyed Colds:

Symptoms of the Disease:

This takes several forms; some innocuous and some pernicious being the symptom of a more serious disease. Runny, watery eyes     

Recognition of the Disease:

One eyed cold is identified by clear water and air bubbles in one eye only, accompanied by slight swelling and reddening of eyelid and cere. Most commonly noticed is a watery or mucousy discharge in only one eye. But occasionally both eyes will have a watery appearance. Sometimes one eye can become completely shut depending upon the degree of infection. Should these symptoms develop to dark reddening and hard mucous deposits plus nasal discharge and severe breathing problems then the bird has a more serious disease. One eyed cold in young birds often occurs with the peak moulting time coinciding with atmospheric (temperature) wide variation (hot days-cold nights).

Treatment:

Generally speaking this is easily rectified by greater ventilation or isolation to an aviary and increasing the Vitamin C supplement. Left to take its course the patient recovers in 4 - 7 days and gentle swabbing of the eye to remove dried particles certainly helps. One-eyed colds are also associated with a peck in the eye or some other type of physical injury affecting the eye. They are also often confused with the onset of mycoplasmosis.