12 week old with bubbly eyes and sneezing

[LittleSquid416]

I have 2 frizzle silkie mixes that are 12 weeks old. I got them around 8 weeks old. A day or two ago, I noticed the male sitting with his mouth open and sneezing a bunch. He has bubbles in one eye now, and has been having very runny light brown poop. I'm about a year into having chickens so I'm very new to this and not sure what to do to treat him. I don't want to guess and give him anything that might harm him and not help. He is in a makeshift brooder inside with 1 other frizzle. Should I separate them?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

How's the ventilation in the brooder?

Bubbles in the eyes could be a symptoms of respiratory disease like Mycoplasma.
Clean/flush eyes with saline and put a dot of Terramycin eye ointment in the eyes. Sometimes an antibiotic like Tylosin is needed to help address symptoms (in addition to cleaning eyes).
Any bird that is housed with him, would be considered exposed and if you are dealing with MG, then that bird would be considered a carry even if they never shows any symptoms.

If you have photos you wish to share of the chicks, their eyes and the brooder setup they would be most welcome.

 

[LittleSquid416]

It's a makeshift brooder as I wasn't expecting to get chicks (definitely not in the winter!) This was before morning cleanup. Not all of my pictures are showing up to post. I have some of his eye but it's not available.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

It's a makeshift brooder as I wasn't expecting to get chicks (definitely not in the winter!) This was before morning cleanup. Not all of my pictures are showing up to post. I have some of his eye but it's not available.
View attachment 4051838

I'd try cleaning the eye really well, rinse with saline see if there may be some type of debris/bedding in the eye that is causing irritation.

LOL An unexpected surprise!

Looks like they have plenty of room and they have been playing/digging around. Chicks can really kick the bedding up can't they and get it everything. Fun times!

 

[LittleSquid416]

I'll do that, hopefully that's all we need! I keep seeing things about MG-is there any way to rule it out over a respiratory thing (if they eye flush doesn't help)

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I'll do that, hopefully that's all we need! I keep seeing things about MG-is there any way to rule it out over a respiratory thing (if they eye flush doesn't help)

I hope that's all that is needed too. Sometimes they can get a bit of bedding, food, feather, etc. in the eye that causes irritation.
If that's the case, then flushing and cleaning the eye will usually resolve the problem quickly and you won't see any more signs of bubbles in the eyes.

Bubbles in the eyes along with other symptoms like sneezing, coughing, mucous, etc., leans more toward respiratory illness. Bubbles often are associated with MG. But it could also be a virus like Infectious Bronchitis. Without testing, there's no way to know what illness it is really, but most do find that an antibiotic helps, so when that happens, usually it's considered MG since it's a bacteria-like disease instead of a virus.

Since you report he's also sneezing and sitting with his beak open, these are a bit worrisome, but I'd still rinse the eyes, look at the nostrils, make sure they don't have any food or shavings stuck in them. Check inside the beak to see if he's got any shavings in the beak or obstruction, just to rule out some of these things being cause of the symptoms you see...chicks can do some odd things sometimes.

 

[Eggcessive]

Mycoplasma (MG) is one of the chronic respiratory diseases that can come in on new chickens, or they can get exposed to it from your chickens if they have had it before. Hopefully, it is just something irritating their eyes. Tylosin is an antibiotic used in the water to treat MG. They can remain carriers for life. This online store has it in stock:
https://pigeonsuppliesplus.com/prod...YcIXXVZdHAqgg1ji-xV_mLljOFm0T5-BvEFL7RU&gQT=1
Dosage is 1 tsp per gallon of water for 5 days. It can take a week to get it in shipping.