Rooster has very swollen eye (WARNING:gross looking picture of eye)

[Sunshine0235]

I went to move a trio of birds out by my other chickens, since they were big enough to withstand the cold, and I noticed my rooster was standing funny, not moving and with his head low. I shook the fence a couple of times and no reaction, and threw them a couple of handles of food to pick at, and he didnt move. I went around the other side of the fence and he left side of his face was completely swollen and glossy looking. He was fine a couple of days ago when I was taking pictures of him and the others, so it must have happened today while i was at work or overnight, since he wasnt like this yesterday.

He is a year old polish rooster. He is the only one acting funny. He took about a min to react when i finally touched his back, and he is one of the chickens that wants nothing to do with people and is on the other side of the run, so it is completely out of character for him.
I havent done anything yet, since im not sure what to do. And I havent seen any vets around here that will take chickens, so that isnt possible.
Here is his face:


What should i do? I dont want him to suffer or hurt him. I think i have eye drops that i used for a chick would those help at all? Do you think something got stuck in his eye and thats why its so swollen? If the others arent picking on him, should I separate him? If its not something in his eye would it be contagious to the other chickens?

This is normally how he looks, this is a few days ago:

 

[Eggcessive]

He has a mark on the swollen area, so I would suspect a peck wound if he is not showing signs of a respiratory infection. Symptoms would include bubbles or sticky drainage in the eye, nasal secretions, cough, sneeze, or rattly breathing. Watch him to see if the swelling starts to go down, or he develops other symptoms. If there are more than one rooster, he could be getting picked on and I would separate them.

 

[Sunshine0235]

No signs of an infection, there is a young lavender orpington cockerel with him, but I have between 20-25 hens so i thought that would be enough. The orpington still doesnt realize he is a rooster, only thing about him that is rooster is the saddle feathers, but I will keep an eye out. I would take him out if I had somewhere to put him, I dont really have an open spot for him since I am quarantining a jubilee orpington I got 5 days ago. Should i put anything on it? Will that blue stuff you put on wounds prevent the others from pecking at it?

 

[Eggcessive]

You can put some iodine on your finger and dab it on the peck mark. BluKote would work also, but don't get it near his eye (caution it is very staining, so use a rubber glove to dab it on.) BluKote comes in dab-on or spray. Plain old gentian violet in a small bottle from WalMart first aid aisle is the blue stuff without the expense of BluKote. If the wound seems to be an abscess, you may need to lance it in a day or two, but I would not lance it if it is just swollen. An abscess will cause a lot of pain when you touch it, and he might need antibiotics for that. Vets always have the best antibiotics for those things.

 

[Sunshine0235]

Alright thanks for the help.

 

[Eggcessive]

You're welcome. Give us an update on how he gets along, and if it gets better.

 

[Sunshine0235]

He didnt improve overnight, did the opposite in fact, now he other eye is swelling, and they was a lot of eye gunk in there, i cleaned it out. He was still in the rafter since he couldn't see to get down, and he didnt fuss when I picked him up. I gave him a little water with a dropper. I went ahead and removed him, he's now a cat carrier in the garage. I did notice about every couple of breaths sounds a little watery/raspy on the way to the garage, so it might be an respiratory infection after all. SInce i picked him up, i felt puffy area, its really warm to the touch and kind of soft, not watery but not hard either.

I have pictures of both eyes now, I tried to soften what ever is holding his eye shut, but its not budging, and I didnt want to force it open just in case.
If it really is a respiratory infection, isnt that uncurable, and will be a carrier for life, if so should i cull him to help prevent it spreading to the others(im planning on breeding, is this sort of thing passable down through eggs and such?), and do a thorough cleaning of the coop? What would be the best to clean it with, would diluted bleach work?




If no others show signs of this, would it be safe to assume they dont have it? Would it never be safe to reintroduce him to my flock if it is a repiratory infection? If I do cull him, what would be the best moethod of disposing of the body(bury it at least a foot down, or burn his body, or something to prevent spreading it)?

Im really worried now.

 

[Eggcessive]

Have you added any new chickens to the flock lately? MG and coryza are some of the respiratory diseases that can cause swollen pus-filled eyes. The eyes can also be infected with other bacteria also. MG and coryza can make carriers of any chickens exposed, for life. Does he have a bad odor around his head that may mean coryza? MG is more common in backyard flocks than coryza. Your flock could already be exposed. Testing is available here: http://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_health/nahln/downloads/all_nahln_lab_list.pdf
Testing would help you know how to deal with this, since vaccines are available. Honestly, I would cull for coryza, and probably for MG. With MG, it would depend on how many others could have it or get it. When culling for any disease, I would either incinerate or bury very deeply, but taking the carcass off the property would be even better. Tylan 50 injectable is very good to treat MG. Coryza responds to Sulfadimethoxine and Sulmet, but Tylan and oxytetracycline may be used in conjunction with sulfa drugs to prevent secondary infections. Sorry that you are having to deal with this. I would call the state vet to necropsy him if possible--that would be good for getting test results, too.
http://www.thepoultrysite.com/disea...ction-mg-chronic-respiratory-disease-chickens
http://www.merckmanuals.com/vet/pou...lasma_gallisepticum_infection_in_poultry.html
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps034
http://www.thepoultrysite.com/diseaseinfo/82/infectious-coryza
http://www.usaha.org/Portals/6/StateAnimalHealthOfficials.pdf

 

[Sunshine0235]

I only have the rooster I bought last Tues, and he has stayed away from them. I bought three brahmas from the ohio national poultry show in the very beginning of Nov, and had them away from the others for three weeks before adding them, ands its been about a month since then, and I think I read the incubation period is 5-7 days, so probably not them. He doesn't have any distinct smells to him, just smells like chicken.

I just scrubbed the coop with bleach and their feeders and waterers, and plan to do that every day for the next couple of weeks.

Should I wait to figure out if it is Coryza with the smell part, or just cull now, and see if I can get him sent in to be tested? How long does it usually take to get the smell?

ETA: I did have someone buy a hen from me on the same day I bought the rooster, they mentioned one of there chickens turned out to be a roo, nothing about their birds being sick, the did say they didnt know a lot about chickens though.

Scratch that, he is now blind in both eyes, and his eye was oozing a clear liquid, so I'm going to bury him tonight, my chickens don't free range, so I will bury him deep on the opposite side of the yard(have a bit over an acres).

 

[Sunshine0235]

Just thought I would update, I culled him on Christmas day. No other chickens showed any symptoms until today, one of my EE hens. Found her with one swollen eye while putting petroleum jelly on the chickens with big combs, since the wind chill is supposed to be negative 15 for the next 24 hours.

I brought her into the garage. I believe the disease is possibly from the jubilee orpington rooster I got, so im going to get him tested for it and the rest of the flock hopefully, just sent a email to the state vet/ testing lab. If he does have it, Im taking him back to the lady I got him from, she said that I could.

Im not entirely sure if it was from him or a coopers hawk that has been walking around the edge of the fence ( and killed 4 smaller pullets through the fence), that possibly brought it from another flock. I have some new pullets where the rooster was quarantined for over a week now, and they are completely fine and laying eggs for me, they are from two different sources, and neither are showing signs. I have no idea if it really is M gallisepticum or something similar, or even where its coming from.

Then hen's eye is a bit different looking from the rooster, it not really swollen, more of sunken in.


ETA: I found a vet that sees chickens about 30 mins away, and taking her and the rooster to test for MG. They were booked for tomorrow, so couldnt make and appointment, but said to come anyways and see if they can fit them in for a quick test if necessary.