Advice on treating this chicks eye

[Nksg75]

Hi there, a little background real quick. I have had chickens for quite some time and have dealt with many things. This little chick stumps me, and even though I can’t rule out a variety of diseases/virusus/etc.. like MG/mason eye worm/simple eye injury I am trying to just get this chicks eye healed.
my main issue is that each and everyday I go to treat her, the crust/scab has returned again overnight so it’s like I have to start from scratch and get the black scabs off her eye area before I can actually put the antibiotic into her eye.
I have always known not to pick scabs once healing, however the scabs are so bad that this poor girl can open her eye to see, and I can get the meds in the eye without removing part of the scabs.
There is no straightforward cheese pus that can be removed like in some videos I have seen that have Corzoya.
My flock is free range, so many things are possible. This chick came from a hatchery along with 30 others and this is the only chick with an eye issue.
I have had it isolated with another chick that I am treating for wry neck for about a week.
they are approx 3-4 weeks old.
below is a pic of the chick last night after I treated her eye.

 

[azygous]

What all do you put in the eye? Are you using saline to flush it? Does the cheesy stuff have an odor?

 

[Nksg75]

What all do you put in the eye? Are you using saline to flush it? Does the cheesy stuff have an odor?

No cheesy stuff that I see.
I am flushing it out daily with saline, and putting teramicine in it as well.
I am just concerned about picking the scabs off daily for them to just reappear the next day. However if I don’t get the black scabs off then I cant get to the eye itself.
she still has vision in it, so that’s a plus!

 

[Razzlefrazzle]

Is the nostril also plugged? I'm not sure what else could cause that much swelling around the eye except pus... Have you tried gently pressing the swollen part toward the eye when you have it open to see if pus starts coming out?

Sorry I don't have any advice for how to keep the eye from crusting over...

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Do you have photos of the chick when the scabs first appeared and the progression of them?
If you do, I'd like to see them.

 

[Nksg75]

Do you have photos of the chick when the scabs first appeared and the progression of them?
If you do, I'd like to see them.

No unfortunately I did not get any pics when it started. Wish I had. Actually I was wrong about the cheesy plug. When treating her again last night I started pushing a bit and saw what looked like a pus plug. I was able to remove a very small plug from her lower part of her eye, and know that there is more, but couldn’t get it out. It seems that it is just completely stuck to her lower inside lid of her eye. She had been through enough and I was causing her lower lid to bleed so I stopped. If I am able to get more of the cheesy plug is there a lab I can send it to for testing?
i noticed that I have another chick(from a different hatchery) that has some swelling of her lower eye. Right after I noticed this other chick, I was summoned by DH that I was going to be late as usual for a party. So I was not able to separate this chick yet, but will be doing that this morning.

 

[Nksg75]

Is the nostril also plugged? I'm not sure what else could cause that much swelling around the eye except pus... Have you tried gently pressing the swollen part toward the eye when you have it open to see if pus starts coming out?

Sorry I don't have any advice for how to keep the eye from crusting over...

No the nostril is clear, and yes you were right there was pus, however I was not able to get all of it out.
how do these people I see on these videos just magically pop these plugs out without popping the whole eyeball out. I feel so bad for this chick, I was putting her through hell as I was trying to get the rest of the stuff out. After awhile I thought enough is enough. It was just stuck to the lower inside eyelid. And not willing to just come out. I will try again today.

 

[Nksg75]

So if I got some plug/pus from the eye itself does that help narrow down what it could be?
I was really hoping it was Mason eye worm, versus MG.

 

[azygous]

Infectious coryza is what this probably is. It causes pus and swelling around the eye. The treatment is removing the pus as you've been doing, then flushing the eye with saline, then applying Terramycin twice a day in the eye.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

No unfortunately I did not get any pics when it started. Wish I had. Actually I was wrong about the cheesy plug. When treating her again last night I started pushing a bit and saw what looked like a pus plug. I was able to remove a very small plug from her lower part of her eye, and know that there is more, but couldn’t get it out. It seems that it is just completely stuck to her lower inside lid of her eye. She had been through enough and I was causing her lower lid to bleed so I stopped. If I am able to get more of the cheesy plug is there a lab I can send it to for testing?
i noticed that I have another chick(from a different hatchery) that has some swelling of her lower eye. Right after I noticed this other chick, I was summoned by DH that I was going to be late as usual for a party. So I was not able to separate this chick yet, but will be doing that this morning.

Send the sample to your state lab, I'd give them a call and see how they want it sent.
https://tvmdl.tamu.edu/

Try to document the other chick that is just beginning to show some swelling.

Hard to know what you are dealing with but getting that tested is a good idea.

A warm compress may help loosen the material in the eye before you begin trying to press out the pus. It's good you were able to remove some of the material, hopefully you can work most of it out over the next few days.