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.

 

[NwChickOwner]

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.

Thank you! I watched her eat a bit because I wanted to make sure no one was picking on her. Right before I locked them up, I applied the ointment and checked her crop, it was full! She really seems to behave fine and the other side of her face is perfect, no crust or injury. I bought the Neosporin without pain relief as suggested and that is what I applied to her face tonight. I’m wondering about it though. In humans, neosporin can cause blindness, is that not a concern for chickens? Is polysporin effective for chickens or is neosporin the best?

 

[Eggcessive]

I am not sure where you got the idea that Neosporin can cause blindness. Some people can be allergic to sulfa drugs such as Neomycin, but it has been used in chickens for decades until recently, when antibiotics were banned in chickens.
Neosporin ophthalmic ointment is used in eyes and available by prescription. It costs around $30. The over the counter is the same exact medication and generic costs about $3. Either can be used in a chicken’s eyes. For humans, the prescription product is preferred.

 

[NwChickOwner]

I am not sure where you got the idea that Neosporin can cause blindness. Some people can be allergic to sulfa drugs such as Neomycin, but it has been used in chickens for decades until recently, when antibiotics were banned in chickens.
Neosporin ophthalmic ointment is used in eyes and available by prescription. It costs around $30. The over the counter is the same exact medication and generic costs about $3. Either can be used in a chicken’s eyes. For humans, the prescription product is preferred.

A dermatologist told me it can damage a human cornea and never to use the non-ophthalmologic version. I don’t know if that’s true or not though.

 

[NwChickOwner]

Update:
Her eye was still swollen this morning so I repeated the warm compress and neosporin. The skin around her eye is very pale compared to the other side. The rest of her face, comb, and wattles are slightly paler than usual. She is eating and drinking, her crop feels full. She keeps nestling her head into her back/wing feathers. When I was cleaning her eye this morning, I saw the lower eyelid wasn’t attached to the upper eyelid because of the gunk. I saw a flicker of movement that I think was her eyeball when the two eyelids separated. It’s almost like the lower eyelid is paralyzed?