Swelling under eye

Hi guys,

I'm a brand new chicken owner. I've read backyardchickens a lot and you've all unknowingly given me a lot of help and advice, so thankyou! However now I have a problem that I'm a bit stuck with - I'm hoping you kind people will be able to help me.

This is about my Black Rock, who is somewhere around 12 weeks old. I've had her for 4 weeks. On Tuesday 3rd, she was seen falling off a perch, landing oddly on the ground. The next day, I noticed swelling under her eye, and it appeared to be a bit watery - with clear bubbles. It looks kind of like a blister. I immediately panicked and thought it was one of various horrible respiratory diseases that I've read about. I didn't immediately think of the fall being a possible injury.

On Thursday 5th, I took her to my vet, who isn't a specialist chicken vet. They do chickens, but I'm not sure if they have a huge amount of experience, which is why I'm here asking for a second opinion. The vet gave us some Isathal eye drops and also some Tylan soluable antibiotics for her drinking water. At this point we thought it was an eye infection, although the vet did say it didn't look like a typical eye infection.

I separated her from the rest of the flock and also gave her some nutri drops. She's been on the antibiotics for 3 whole days now, and the eye drops for 4.

She does seem to be mildly irritated by the eye, as she (very occasionally) scratches it with her foot. This seems to be mostly right after applying the eye drops, though, so perhaps it's just the sting. The thing that's confusing me is that there are no other symptoms, as far as I can tell. I've spent hours googling chicken ailments, and nothing seems to quite fit.

- She's eating greedily, as normal.
- No sign of any mucus or discharge from the nostrils. No sneezing, coughing or wheezing.
- No smell.
- She's active and behaving perfectly normally in every way, as far as I can see.

Today, the swelling is still there. I think it looks a little less red and more lighter pink, though that might be my imagination wishing it better! So after days of worrying, I thought about possible injury from the fall? Eye/sinus infection, or something more serious?

Thanks for any advice!

Some photos taken today. The bad eye:



This is the other eye which doesn't seem as bad, it doesn't seem to be swollen but there is a sort of red/pink area:

I would continue the Tylan and the eye drops as the vet has ordered them. Chickens and birds can suffer from mycoplasma (MG) conjunctivitis, along with staphylocococcal or viral eye infections, and the Tylan is the treatment. The eye drops are to treat staphylococcus. Be sure to clean the eyes of foam and pus before putting in the eye drops. Terramycin eye ointment would be good for mycoplasma in the eye if you don't see any improvement in a few days. Have you noticed any nasal drainage or sneezing?

Thanks for your reply - I really appreciate it. I'll continue on with it, thanks. I don't think there's any pus in the eye, as such - it seems to be just watery bubbles. I've been watching her closely and there's no nasal drainage or sneezing at all, no.

Me again. No change since my first post, really. She still has the funny eye(s) and still appears perfectly fine and dandy other than that. The more time that passes, the less convinced I am that it's respiratory - wouldn't there have been some respiratory symptoms developing by now? I still have her on the Tylan and eyedrops.

I guess I'm thinking that it may be due to injury from the fall she had, after all. Does anyone have any opinions on if that seems likely? And if so if it would hopefully heal if given enough time? Because if it's that and not respiratory, I don't see a reason why she shouldn't be re-introduced to the rest of the flock? Maybe I'm just being impatient in wanting this to begin getting better already.

Also. I've been given a very old farmyard manual which belonged to my grandparents, probably about 100 years (?!) old. For inflammation in the eye area in chickens it simply says that it may be due to pecking or injury, and to wash it with milk. Good idea/bad idea/crazy idea?

Could it be eye worm?

Thanks for the reply! You've given me something new to look up. I haven't noticed any worms or clouding of the eye, but I'll have a thorough inspection in the morning. A couple of sites suggest eye worm is more common in tropical areas? It's not very tropical here in England, unfortunately. I'm not sure if that completely rules it out or not?

Honestly, I really don't know anything about eye worm, but I had read something about it the other day it sounded like it might be something similar to what you described.

I would doubt that it would be eyeworm. Milk probably would not be good to put in the eye. Saline or the drops ordered would be best. I would give the eyes a chance to heal in case it was caused by trauma or pecking. Here is a link about eye disorders: https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps031