Swollen Eye and Large Abscess/Bubble in 1YO Chicken

[GSEI1914]

This morning I noticed that one of our 1 year old Buff Orpingtons has a very swollen eye and a large round abscess (?) between her eye and beak. PICTURE BELOW. Her comb is slightly dull and she is holding her beak open, but I don't hear any wheezing or other noise. No noticeable smell at this point either.

We are relatively new to chickens. This is our third year and we haven't encountered any sickness/health issues until now, so I could really use some help.

So far, none of our other 12 chickens are showing and signs of sickness. I understand that serious respiratory illnesses can sometimes cause swollen eyes? Or could it be as simple as something in her eye?

Any insight or advice would be really appreciated.

 

[Rhetts]

I do not have an answer for you. Sorry! Do you have access to an avian vet? Perhaps you might want to bring her in to have her looked over to see what it could be? Again, sorry I am of no help. I hope you are able to find out what is going on and that it just stays to one hen! Maybe there will be someone here that has experience with this to offer better advice to you.

 

[Omle]

i'm not really sure how to treat her eye but I would separate her from all the other chickens so they won't pick on her.

 

[Kikiriki]

Antibiotics immediately!

Feel the abscess: is it hot, mushy or hard, when you gently press it does it move her eye or inside or her mouth?

I don't see any injury on the outside, so check her mouth, nasal passage, and eye socket for foreign bodies.

See if you can find a splinter or even a worm.

If there is a scab, use a q tip or sponge to soften it, remove the scab and inspect again for a foreign object. You also need to drain the abscess.

If you can find no scabbed area, excise the abscess with a very sharp, sterilized needle or razor blade to open it up and drain it.

If it is hard, it may be more difficult to clean out: rather like treating bumble foot...

You want to keep her face very clean after that, and the clean the wound as often as you can, applying a good local antibiotic, as well as a systemic one.

 

[Dr Battey]

Hi, i raise Orpingtons, Marans, Silkies. one big experiment. As a "prepper" I need to get way up on the learning curve as fast as possible. Farmstead chickens for self-sufficiency and profit is my main goak, so I take my pullets to an avian vet for problems like this. Now, I just do what the vet does: scoop the abscess out with a q-tip, apply antibiotic ointment to the eye orbit (the eye is usually toast by now), and use liquid oral antibiotics. Amoxicillan or Doxycyclan works well if used for at least 5 days. Try to get the dosage correct based on body weight. Your one-eyed girl will have a long, productive life.

 

[Mstreman]

A vignette to add to the knowledge base as this is the first case I ever heard of: IMPACTED FEATHER

I just removed a marble-sized abscess capsule from my hen's eye. When I found her three days ago, the abscess had already formed. and continued to grow in spite of antibiotic eye ointment plus Tylan 50 injections.

During the first examination, I had found and removed a feather sticking through the skin/eyelid only inside the eye socket--sort of an "ingrown hair". I assume it was the cause of the original infection. She was docile and did not venture far from her perch on back of my chair the first two days, tolerated treatment without a fuss, had a fair appetite and seemed sedate as chickens go. Seemed to function well with the single eye.

Tonight, I disinfected my surge kit and, after some probing and loosening the edges, I coaxed out the abscess capsule slowly-- when it popped out cleanly.

The eye maybe dead but time will tell. Now that the abscess is out just a few minutes later, she is much more actively showing typical feeding behavior: scratching my rug/floor wondering why the "dirt" won't come up.