HELP! Extreme eye Infection? Chorzya? Cholera? Injury!

Hello!! I have been following BYC for a couple years now. Was a newbie to farming and had much to learn! I am still learning how to navigate the forum, I am used to just searching a topic, so I hope it is okay I posted this problem here. Being that I also have horses, goat, ducks, dogs, honeybees and a cat, My chickens seemed kind of care free! They are free range layers with a nice coop to roost at night. I have a variety of hens and a rooster. Never had any problems at all until about 6 months ago, one seemed to have a respiratory condition. by the time I notice her gasping for air she was dead two days later. Now I have my second problem. I noticed this hen about a week or so ago. This caseous exudate was barely covering the eye, but kind of hard, I couldn't wipe it away. I put some VetRx (all I could think of at the time) I had to go out of town. now this pic is two days ago. I have been searching like crazy and can't confirm what it may be. I have tried to get it out today, half broke off and fell to the ground and another chicken ate it! she was getting stressed so I stopped for the time being and put some terramycin in it. My feed store rep recommended giving her .25-..5 cc Penicillin. Hope someone has seen this before. She is still eating and drinking . I have about a dozen chickens. How contagious? Thank you all in advance! Love this site!

You need to remove the pus, antibiotics will not clear that up. If she were mine I would give her Baytril orally at 0.2ml per 2.2 pounds for five days after I removed the pus.
http://www.allbirdproducts.com/newproductpages/baytril.html
http://www.ladygouldianfinch.com/product_baytril.php

Baytril is banned for use in poultry in the US, so you should be aware of that.

Other people might suggest Tylan 50.

-Kathy

Thanks , I have her as an egg layer, so I may steer clear of Baytril. Tylan 50 or someone else suggested Sulfadimethoxine... which I have on hand. I will clean her eye again. didn't want to stress her too much at one time., plus I am hoping the ointment softens it up .

krittertlc said:

Thanks , I have her as an egg layer, so I may steer clear of Baytril. Tylan 50 or someone else suggested Sulfadimethoxine... which I have on hand. I will clean her eye again. didn't want to stress her too much at one time., plus I am hoping the ointment softens it up .

Click to expand...

It's not gonna soften up, you need to get some tweezers and start digging. Chances are she's lost het eye. You also need to look inside her mouth a make sure there is no pus in the choanal slit (see picture below).

Nambroth said:

Here is a better photo of a healthy upper palette. I labeled my photo since the interior of bird mouths can look very alien indeed.
The papillae run down the edges of the slit as well, but are less obvious in this photo. Though they look tooth-like, they are actually a sensory organ for the bird.

Click to expand...

-Kathy

Your hen doesn't need surgery, but this might give you an idea of how hard that pus is:
http://connerhills.com/sinus_infection_removal.html

-Kathy

oh geeze.... ok! What is the best way to open her mouth without hurting her? sounds like I need an extra pair of hands.. GREAT pic and explaination thanks!

Thanks so much for everyone's concern and help. I have quarantined her and got tweezers to pull out what I could (most of it).Thanks Casportpony, I would have givin up but your words "got to dig it out, not coming out on its own" kept me going! Broke apart in tiny pieces Not knowing how involved it was, I was afraid to try and pop it out fearing something (like an eyeball) might come with it, lol. Good news is her eye seems ok AND the Chaonal Slit was clear! Can't tell if the smell is coming from her body as a whole or the eye. I want to say her body. Chicken smell but stronger, could it be her stress? The exudate pushed her eyeball backwards and as I cleaned it started coming forward. the pupil seems ok., altho there is redness around it (understandably) . The stuff seems to be coming from the front (nasal?) I will post a couple of picks in the morning of my progress. I filled it with terramycin and have started her on Sulfadimethoxine as she did seem a bit wheezy while I was working on her, She is such a good bird, thanks again for everyone's help!!

My chickens 3 wyndots have a canker looking thing over their eyes what is it

Haven't been able to confirm diagnosis but I would say it is respiratory illness, not sure which one. Your sounds like it may be contagious. So far, this hen is the only one sick (fingers crossed). Maybe you can post pictures for the experienced members to see. They have been very helpful to me. Good luck!

So glad you got it out and that she hadn't last her eye! Sometimes it takes several tries to get the remaining pus from the sinus cavity, but sounds like you got it under control.

-Kathy