one eye (left) closing from the bottom and spot on the nose

Hello Friends,

I have 13 week old buff orpington (Rosy) and she was fine until about 5 days ago when I noticed that her left was closing from the bottom and the overall shape is not as round as her right (norma) eye. She keeps that left eye open majority of the time. It is just the bottom part of the skin around the eye extends higher than normal and covers the bottom part of her pupil.

She eats normal but seems to be drinking less than before...I find it hard to catch her drinking water so I forced fed her water yesterday..but it has been raining last few days so I don't think she is dehydrated. She roams around with silver wyandotte (Daisy) and is active as usual. I also have 2 silkies of the same age.

Rosy seems ok other than her eye. I will try the saline solution in her eye as someone suggested in another thread. I got the mist though.

If this has happened to your chicken or you are familiar with this symptom and what it can mean as well as any solutions I can try to help her eye, please let me know.

Thank you,
Ola

Welcome to BYC. Pictures would be helpful. Her eye could be irritated from something environmental or pecking, or she could have conjunctivitis (like pink eye in humans.) Any drainage or crusting should be cleaned with saline or water, and you can use an antibiotic ointment such as Terramycin oointment from a feed store, or Vetericyn eye wash or gel. Those can be expensive, but good, and some will use topical bacitracin or neosmycin ointment. Eye infections can exist on their own, but conjunctivitis in poultry can also be a symptom of respiratory diseases such as MG and others, especially if there are other symptoms such as sneeze, wheezing, or gasping. Fowl pox can be complicated with eye infections. Here is a good link to read about common respiratory and other diseases:
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044

Thank you for the feedback and the information. Here are few photos I just took. It seems that her eye is a bit worse because it is closing from the top too. However, it could be that she just went back to the coop as she was roaming around since early morning... there is nothing coming out of her eye that I can see

The eyelid looks red at about 1 o'clock, which could be a peck mark or sting. There looks to be something in her the lower rim of the eye--is that bubbles or debris? I would clean it and apply one of the eye remedies listed above twice a day. Bubbles or foam can be a sign of conjunctivitis or mycoplasma. In case of a respiratory infection, you could try a feed store oral antibiotic, such as Tylan 50 injectable 1/2 ml given orally twice a day for 3-5 days. Or if she drinks enough, oxytetracycline in the water for 7 days, but you would need to separate her in a cage with food and medicated water, so the others would not drink it.

On Monday morning Rosy's eye got a bit worse as she closes it more. I am washing it twice a day with saline and on Monday afternoon I added eye ointment and it seems to soothe her eye.
Yesterday, I separated her from Daisy as I saw Daisy pecking her around the eye and in her back (Rosy does it to Daisy time to time, too). I took Rosy home and she sleeps in a box. And I gave her food and water to see how much she eats and drinks. In the morning I put her with the 2 silkies who don't peck and Daisy is on her own (Daisy does not seem to like anyone at this time and I got the silkies 2 weeks ago).

Rosy's eye looked like this on Monday night and today is a bit more swollen.

Tuesday evening.

I also noticed that the grass that she ate today would get stuck on the left side of her beak and was sticking out as if she did not know that it was still there. I also see a small dark spot the the left side of her nose. That has been there for at least a week maybe longer.

Can you call your local vet for an antibiotic that would treat both mycoplasma and E.coli. Most feed store antibiotics will treat mycoplasma, a respiratory disease, but eye infections can also be from things like E.coli and other gram negative bacteria that Tylan won't treat. Enrofloxacin or Baytril, which can be obtained online (and currently banned for chickens in the US,) and other drugs your vet could prescribe, might help. Has your hen every shown any respiratory signs such as sneeze, wheeze, gasp, or rattly breathing? There is a thread called Baytril sources if you want to try and get some yourself, but I would not wait too much longer, since her eye looks worse. Blindness can ocur if infections aren't treated quickly. Also, if there is not any crusting or pus present, you can just apply the ointment without cleaning he eye. I really hope you can help her get over this.

Thank you for the information - I appreciate it. Last night I ordered Terramycin ointment and it came in so I just put it on her. I will see if that makes any difference.
She shows no signs of respiratory issue of any sort. I just cannot find anything on the spots below her nostrils. Now I also see it on her right side. And the fact that the grass is stuck in her mouth worries me as if she has no feeling there. I made a vet appointment so I will see if she feels better tomorrow. If not, I will take her in. Thank you.

On Thursday I spoke with couple of people who have had chickens for a long time and they said it might be a cold. We have noticed her left side of the head is swollen and the spots below her nostrils now look like it could be something coming out of the nose...

I'm glad you are seeing a vet. Let us know what they think.