We have a new batch of 8 chicks, one week old yesterday. Various breeds, all have been perfectly healthy up to today when we noticed that the Salmon Faverolle chick cannot open one of her eyes, I reviewed photos and she could definitely open her eye and no sign of problems last week. Details and photos:
Upon arrival into the brooder - she’s the yellow chick and her currently-affected left eye is seen here with no problems:
Today (Day 8): left eye is swollen shut, has a purple tinge, no discharge. Her other eye is fine (see second picture):
Front view comparison of the two eyes, right now:
Details: this group of chicks came from My Pet Chicken, vaccinated, and on medicated feed these first few weeks. This is our fifth round of chicks over the last several years, we have never lost one yet (!) due to illness. She seems sleepier than the others, but is growing and eating and drinking, but before even noticing the eye today we observed that she’s quieter and less active than the others. We read that Faverolles tend to be very docile and sometimes get picked on bc of this.
Questions:
1. Could this be an eye injury as a result of getting picked on? If so, what treatment can we provide tonight?
2. If this is viral/bacterial, is there any home remedy we can try or is our best bet to go to our chicken vet tomorrow for meds? I do not want to drop $150+ on a chick, but will not cull.
3. Should I separate immediately? I can isolate and put her under a separate heat lamp if necessary, the current group uses a brooder plate with supplemental environmental heat from a ceramic bulb.
Temps in the brooder range from high 70s to high 80s, with the brooder plate for mama-hen-level warmth. They are inside in a converted small-animal crate in a bathroom, still using paper towels (changed 2x/day) on base of brooder. Their water does have chick probiotics added, but I could switch her water to include nutridrench if that would help stabilize her.
Thanks for any help!
Upon arrival into the brooder - she’s the yellow chick and her currently-affected left eye is seen here with no problems:
Today (Day 8): left eye is swollen shut, has a purple tinge, no discharge. Her other eye is fine (see second picture):
Front view comparison of the two eyes, right now:
Details: this group of chicks came from My Pet Chicken, vaccinated, and on medicated feed these first few weeks. This is our fifth round of chicks over the last several years, we have never lost one yet (!) due to illness. She seems sleepier than the others, but is growing and eating and drinking, but before even noticing the eye today we observed that she’s quieter and less active than the others. We read that Faverolles tend to be very docile and sometimes get picked on bc of this.
Questions:
1. Could this be an eye injury as a result of getting picked on? If so, what treatment can we provide tonight?
2. If this is viral/bacterial, is there any home remedy we can try or is our best bet to go to our chicken vet tomorrow for meds? I do not want to drop $150+ on a chick, but will not cull.
3. Should I separate immediately? I can isolate and put her under a separate heat lamp if necessary, the current group uses a brooder plate with supplemental environmental heat from a ceramic bulb.
Temps in the brooder range from high 70s to high 80s, with the brooder plate for mama-hen-level warmth. They are inside in a converted small-animal crate in a bathroom, still using paper towels (changed 2x/day) on base of brooder. Their water does have chick probiotics added, but I could switch her water to include nutridrench if that would help stabilize her.
Thanks for any help!
