Injured or sick eye and beak on chicken

[NwChickOwner]

I found this chicken like this today. It is only on one side of her face. Our 48 other chickens have no signs or symptoms of anything similar. I read multiple posts here and started with a warm wet towel to remove the crust. Some came off but not all and her eye is still shut. She started getting agitated so I stopped for now. At first I was concerned about an illness but there doesn’t seem to be any nasal discharge or other symptoms. She’s eating and had food in her crop. We have stainless square fencing and I’m wondering if she tried to push her head through a spot and got injured based on the damaged area of her beak? I’m hoping someone more experienced can help identify if it is an injury or illness and provide further advice on how to care for her?

 

[alinas2010]

I found this chicken like this today. It is only on one side of her face. Our 48 other chickens have no signs or symptoms of anything similar. I read multiple posts here and started with a warm wet towel to remove the crust. Some came off but not all and her eye is still shut. She started getting agitated so I stopped for now. At first I was concerned about an illness but there doesn’t seem to be any nasal discharge or other symptoms. She’s eating and had food in her crop. We have stainless square fencing and I’m wondering if she tried to push her head through a spot and got injured based on the damaged area of her beak? I’m hoping someone more experienced can help identify if it is an injury or illness and provide further advice on how to care for her?View attachment 4034122

I agree it seems like something crusty that should come off with a warm compress, but since it all didn’t, I would consider some ointment such as neosporin (w/out pain relief) or even coconut oil. That could soften the material with repeated application. You could try a warm compress again, but you might have to do multiple warm compresses to loosen everything. Does it seem like her eye sealed shut then or is she voluntarily keeping it closed?

 

[NwChickOwner]

I agree it seems like something crusty that should come off with a warm compress, but since it all didn’t, I would consider some ointment such as neosporin (w/out pain relief) or even coconut oil. That could soften the material with repeated application. You could try a warm compress again, but you might have to do multiple warm compresses to loosen everything. Does it seem like her eye sealed shut then or is she voluntarily keeping it closed?

It seems like it’s sealed shut

 

[sourland]

To me it looks like a physical abrasion rather than a disease situation. I would coat the eye/face/beak with an antibiotic ointment hoping that the eye will eventually open.

 

[alinas2010]

It seems like it’s sealed shut

As @sourland suggested, you might be looking at some scabs. The application of ointment would help soften the scabs and heal the wounds if that’s what’s going on. Try that and let us know how it goes.

 

[Eggcessive]

The warm wet compress repeated as necessary, and the antibiotic ointment applied to the eye and scabs should help you be able to open the eye and just check it for any discharge. Chickens can chase each other around and run into fencing, causing injuries to skin and beaks. Make sure that she can get enough food and water, since her beak may be sore, and her eyesight is not good. The right eye is for close up vision while the left eye is for far away vision. So seeing her food might be more difficult.