Eye swollen shut and othe eye looks like it will to..

[KonaChick]

She has had a swollen eye for a few days and her other one looks like it is starting.. read the other post about eye infections. Just wondering if you can tell me what it is. About six months ago one of my two year olds light Brahmas got a similar looking eye infection. She lost a lot of weight and finally I think one of the neighbor dogs came and picked her off. Now one of my young chicken has the same problem. They have an outside 6x10 chain link pen for roosting but the door is left open for them to roam on an acre during the day. She doesn't have the sneezing or the weezing. She would eat more if she could see her food. She drinks fine. We tried the water antibiotics for the last chicken and it did seem to make the swelling go down but it really didn't help much. Watched a you tube video on squeezing the eye because of a worm? So gross by the way. Should I squeeze? warm compress? go buy eye wash? Buy medicate eye drops? All of the above? Since now two chickens seem to have gotten it in the past six months should i be worried the rest will?

 

[arcy liger]

my flock had it by new chicks and all died in a month . you should seperate them now from the flock and pray. you can wash her eye and let her eat as many as needed. just not let her move far she needs rest.

good luck

 

[seminolewind]

I lost a few with "swollen eye", and I saved the last one with 7 days of penicillin shots. She's fine.

 

[arcy liger]

please let me know what killed my chickies

 

[BuffOrpington88]

Try researching ocular Mareks. Are they coughing or sneezing at all? I would separate her.
Good luck!

 

[seminolewind]

No one will know for sure. This is just guessing due to past experience. Ocular Marek's is a cloudy eye or a misshapen pupil. Whatever, she needs antibiotics.

 

[KonaChick]

Okay, so it has been a while but my chicken is fine now!! If anyone has something that looks like my pictures happen to their chicken. Here is what I did. I was going on first state vet supply site to order erythromycin eye cream. I have tried the water solubles for another chicken before an it was a waste. So, I was going to order it and then I realized I had a prescription of it already in my house called erythromycin ophthalmic ointment 0.5%. I had also found a video on you tube about squeezing the eye cause of a cockroach egg. It is a gross video. I almost didn't have the stomach to try it but I knew I had to try everything. So, I got my gloves out held the chicken down and squeezed the eye. Two big solid white puss balls came out. Again, SO GROSS! I then put the ointment in her eye twice a day for three to five days. I released her back into the flock. She could open her eye but she preferred to keep it closed for a while. She walked a little sideways for about a week until she opened it all the way. She is now just another chicken! One of the smaller chickens showed the starting signs of the same thing. I caught it soon enough that it only took three days of ointment and no squeezing. She's all good now to!!

I would rather not use any antibiotics but when it's life or death. I choose to save them no matter what. I did decide to add turmeric to there food to help them with their immune system.

On another note we went through the molting part of the year with no eggs but also found that they also got the chicken pox. They had all the scabs and looked like monsters. I read that it was common to come out during the molting stress time. They are now back to laying eggs and the scabs are gone.

 

[Suzie]

KonaChick,

Phew! You have had some problems there - so pleased that all is well now and thank you for posting about your methods for dealing with such an awful issue! It is always great to hear of positive outcomes to illness that affects our chickens and you explained in detail of what you did to make your chicken with the affected eye well again.

Thank you for sharing! Great information....

Suzie