Baby chicks eye swollen shut

[Sherwsj]

Help! I have a baby chick, just a few days old and one of her eyes appears bulgy/swollen and she has a hard time opening it. She is the smallest of the bunch and is active, but not as much as the others. Could this just be a hatching or pecking injury or should I be worried about illness? It's just one eye and no other chicks have this issue. They are on medicated feed. Any insight?

 

[coach723]

It may have been pecked in the eye, they will peck at anything. If you can (I know they are tiny) try to get a look at it. If it's damaged, or if it doesn't look better by tomorrow, I would be inclined to put a tiny, tiny bit of terramycin eye ointment in that eye a couple of times a day. You can put the dab on your finger and gently press it into the corner of the eye while holding it. Terramycin is available without prescription, some feed stores carry it. You can also use neosporin the same way, my first choice would be the terramycin.