Chicken got pooped on! Eye irritated and puffy!

[guest226]

My chicken is 4 years old and a snowy easter egger. She recently is going through a very rough molt (she has a bunch of bald spots and looks like a mess!)

Last night she mustve gotten pooped on or something by another one of my hens. One side of her face is completely messy, with her feathers covered in dry dirty mess. It is not wet or brown but you can tell she has been pooped on. I'm planning on washing her when I have more time tomorrow.

It seems like all day (while I was away from home) she had been bothered by it and scratching at her face to get it off?? Or something else? But around one eye seems quite puffy and her eyes had some wateryness and bubbling. The other eye seems fine. She is losing feathers around her eye but that seems to not be the entire cause of this 'puffy' look.

I wiped off the remaining poop around her eye, which wasn't much, and she is sleeping now. I accidentally used a water dropper that maybe contained traces of iodine (i tried to rinse it out, but no promises) and flushed her eye. I tried to wipe her eye area with a wet cotton pad. I will apply Terramycin tomorrow in case there is more irritation.

Otherwise she is acting fine. Am I doing the right thing? @Eggcessive @Wyorp Rock @azygous
I dont have any pics of her specifically but it looks something like this (found on google)
her eyelids themselves dont seem swollen but the left part of the skin seems to be. She is not sneezing and has no discharge or crust.

SIDE NOTE: I've been seeing her rub her head against her wing, but I assumed it was because her new pinfeathers have been very itchy and bothering her. I noticed this since yesterday

 

[Debbie292d]

Hi,

Rinsing her eye with saline solution may help clean it if there's still poop remnants in it, and might soothe it, too.

The swelling could be from her scratching herself. The Terramycin is a good idea just in case any infection is starting.

 

[gtaus]

Last night she mustve gotten pooped on or something by another one of my hens.

Chances are she will clean it off herself and recover in short time. My first treatment is to just watch and observe if the chicken actually needs any intervention. Most of the time, they recover on their own.

I would be more concerned about how it was possible to her to get pooped on during the night. Are your roost bars far enough apart that if a chicken on a higher bar poos, that no chickens below will get dumped on?

 

[guest226]

Chances are she will clean it off herself and recover in short time. My first treatment is to just watch and observe if the chicken actually needs any intervention. Most of the time, they recover on their own.

I would be more concerned about how it was possible to her to get pooped on during the night. Are your roost bars far enough apart that if a chicken on a higher bar poos, that no chickens below will get dumped on?

My roost has two bars on the same level, but some of my hens sleep standing up while some sleep sitting down. it was destined that one would get pooped on eventually..

unless it ISNT poop...? im pretty sure it is, though. i dried all crusty, like if you were to take mud and let it dry on feathers. Although i knew it was poop because it smelled like poop!

 

[guest226]

Hi,

Rinsing her eye with saline solution may help clean it if there's still poop remnants in it, and might soothe it, too.

The swelling could be from her scratching herself. The Terramycin is a good idea just in case any infection is starting.

Thanks. Im going to check tomorrow if it got worse, and I have terramycin on stand by.

 

[azygous]

The others have given you the advice you need to treat this hen. I'll just toss in a few bits about her behavior.

Any time a chicken gets something on their comb or head, they will shake their head or scratch to try to get it off. They hate the sensation of anything on their heads.

A puffy eye that is bubbling is trying to eject bacteria and foreign matter. Rinsing the eye with saline and using an antibiotic in the eye twice a day is what's needed, as the others have mentioned.

You do need to come up with a better roosting bar configuration. If this happened once, it will happen again. There should be a clearance of a foot on each side of a roosting bar so poop can clear any chickens roosting beneath it.

 

[guest226]

The others have given you the advice you need to treat this hen. I'll just toss in a few bits about her behavior.

Any time a chicken gets something on their comb or head, they will shake their head or scratch to try to get it off. They hate the sensation of anything on their heads.

A puffy eye that is bubbling is trying to eject bacteria and foreign matter. Rinsing the eye with saline and using an antibiotic in the eye twice a day is what's needed, as the others have mentioned.

You do need to come up with a better roosting bar configuration. If this happened once, it will happen again. There should be a clearance of a foot on each side of a roosting bar so poop can clear any chickens roosting beneath it.

This is the setup of my roost. It has poop from last night that will be cleaned.

 

[Debbie292d]

This is the setup of my roost. It has poop from last night that will be cleaned.

Maybe because it appears they are out in the middle of where the chickens are foraging/eating below? Are those not in your way when you go in there? Perhaps you could find a place over to one side and keep feeders/waterers away from there so they'd not commonly be right below the roosts. You could put one 12" from the wall and stagger the other one down a bit and 18" inches from the wall.

 

[azygous]

They should be spaced around two feet apart.

 

[guest226]

Maybe because it appears they are out in the middle of where the chickens are foraging/eating below? Are those not in your way when you go in there? Perhaps you could find a place over to one side and keep feeders/waterers away from there so they'd not commonly be right below the roosts. You could put one 12" from the wall and stagger the other one down a bit and 18" inches from the wall.

They are in a upstairs roost that is away from the food and water. It has an automated door too. It closes from 8 pm to 6:30 am, so they can't eat in the night!

I would space the roosts better if i could, but unfortunately the roost is small as i have 4 chickens only.

The sleeping roost is a cozy small space with sand on the bottom, they walk in and out from night to morning.