Help eye is swollen shut and the growth has pushed the beak out of line. Difficulty eating and swallowing

[Patrickjohn]

Came into the coop today to let them out and this little one seems to, from what I can feel when I went to clean her eye. Has had it either pecked or scratched out. There is no sensation nor sight of an eye underneath all the massive swelling.

I don’t have a clue what might have caused this but the swelling area seems to have pushed her jaw out of line and now she is having trouble eating and drinking. I have tried to give her what I could. The protruding growth is visible from the inside of her mouth and looks to be almost fully blocking her airway.

She is also now incredibly docile. Hardly budges when I try to pick her up and will just lay there when I put her down. Even when she was on the ground and I was trying to help her with her eye there was only a little resistance from her. Usually she would have bolted and the first sign of assumed danger.

Any help at all would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Lenny loves chickens]

@azygous

 

[Mrs J]

Came into the coop today to let them out and this little one seems to, from what I can feel when I went to clean her eye. Has had it either pecked or scratched out. There is no sensation nor sight of an eye underneath all the massive swelling.

I don’t have a clue what might have caused this but the swelling area seems to have pushed her jaw out of line and now she is having trouble eating and drinking. I have tried to give her what I could. The protruding growth is visible from the inside of her mouth and looks to be almost fully blocking her airway.

She is also now incredibly docile. Hardly budges when I try to pick her up and will just lay there when I put her down. Even when she was on the ground and I was trying to help her with her eye there was only a little resistance from her. Usually she would have bolted and the first sign of assumed danger.

Any help at all would be greatly appreciated!

That looks like infection to me, do you have any antibiotics on hand, also give her some sugar water to perk her up a bit, or nutri drench if you have it through a syringe to make sure she’s getting fluids and doesn’t become dehydrated. I will tag our experts to see if they can help, but I’m not sure if it’s night time where they are, they could be sleeping. @Wyorp Rock @azygous @LaFleche @Eggcessive @dawg53 @casportpony
The eye looks quite pussy to me, that and the swelling makes me think infection.

 

[Mrs J]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/injured-infected-eye.1464409/#post-24391646
I have found this thread for you which might help.

 

[Maz85]

That’s called croyza I think google it! There is lots of videos on how to treat it

 

[Mrs J]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/infectious-coryza.73340/
It does look like Coryza if you Google it. have a look at this thread and see what you think.

 

[Eggcessive]

A respiratory disease or infected eye from a peck or debris in the eye could be possible. If it smells really bad, it may be coryza. Testing can be done through the state vet to help diagnose. It is contagious. Sulfadimethoxine or bactrim (SMZ-TMP) is the treatment of choice. If it is an infected eye from a peck wound, then that still may be the best choice. A tumor could also be possible. I would work on getting any pus out of the eye, flushing the eye with saline eye wash, and applying some antibiotic eye ointment twice a day. Mild squeezing around the swollen mass may express some of the pus in the sinus cavity.

 

[azygous]

This chicken is in a bad way. When it affects eating and drinking, it can't go on very long before the chicken is in starvation mode, and then the battle is going to be lost. Therefore, if you have the courage and will, you need to be aggressive with treatment. Realize you and this chicken have nothing to lose by trying.

Get her on the antibiotic @Eggcessive suggested. Then watch this video and try to get some of that pus removed. The eye can't recover unless you do.

 

[azygous]

There's a chance this is a tumor, and it will be hard to the touch, and there won't be any pus to express. In that case, the chicken probably needs to be euthanized.

 

[Mrs J]

@Patrickjohn how is it going?