Badly Pecked Young Chicken with Swollen Eye

[cdfoster]

Hi All,

So a couple days ago my 8 year old daughter was out in the yard and discovered this young chicken that had been pecked over pretty good by other chickens. We don't have chickens but we have been trying to help this little one get to feeling better. My 8 year old has become its new mother. So on day one of finding the chicken it wouldn't walk nor would it eat or drink water. Day two it began to drink water and eat but did didn't move much. Today she has started to be much more mobile, eat better, and actually did some scratching for bugs today. The problem is she has a REALLY bad swollen eye, i'm assuming from being almost pecked to death but not sure about that. It's strange, it seems she is feeling better as she is more mobile now, is eating, and drinking water. On the other hand, the swelling in her eye seems to have gotten worse. I don't think her eye was pecked out as I can see a pupil in the eye. Also - the swelling has caused her beak to get out of alignment. She didn't have the misaligned beak on day 1, but seemed to develop it on day 2/3. She can eat chicken feed and I got her some red wriggler worms and she really likes those and can seem to eat them better with her sore face/jaw.

Here is a link to pictures I took of her today, she looks really pitiful - I can't believe someone would have let chickens peck her so badly. https://onedrive.live.com/?cid=C6D6E39E9CCE062A&id=C6D6E39E9CCE062A!11653

Any suggestions on what may help her get better? Any hope? I am hoping there is hope as she is eating now and drinking water.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions or help you could provide - it is appreciated.

-Chris

 

[Sammykins]

Poor thing breaks my heart. So great of you guys to look after her!
Go to a farm feed store and get her some antibiotic to put in her water maybe. Or electrolyte solution. They should have some ointments there too to put on any sore areas on her face. I don't find the stuff very expensive. Good luck and keep us updated!

 

[Wol1]

Oh, the poor little sweetheart! There are antibiotic eye ointments at the feed store. Kind of expensive. I use regular human antibiotic ointment on small wounds. A general antibiotic, as suggested above might be a good idea. You may want to look at this chart to see what might be available and appropriate. Then call around a see who has what.

https://sites.google.com/a/poultrypedia.com/poultrypedia/medicine-chart

 

[cdfoster]

Thank you Sammykins and Wol1 for your help and your kind words of inspiration

. I do have some really good news!!! Coconut, this is what my little girl named the chick, continues to do MUCH better. She ate even better today than she did yesterday, I took her outside and found some old fallen trees/pieces of rotten wood - turned 'em over and she went crazy pecking up pill bugs, beetles, and earth worms. She was diggin' and scratchin' really well too. I can't believe the turnaround she has had. I meant to take pictures tonight and post them so y'all could see the vast improvement she has experienced since we first found her. I will do that tomorrow and get them uploaded. I think you will be amazed at how well she is progressing along. The swelling around her eye has gone down considerably too. She is a tough ol' gal - that is for sure.

Again - thank you both for the help and the support..!! Will keep you posted.

Best to you and yours,

--Chris

 

[cdfoster]

So here are the pictures of Coconut. She is on day 5 now and is doing MUCH better. She continues to eat well, scratches and pecks, and the swelling around her eye/head is doing much better!!! See the pictures to compare how better she is doing. Her beak was out of alignment due to the swelling, but has lined back up now that the swelling has gone down and she can now see out of the injured eye too. Her eye is "sticky" looking because we were putting generic Neosporin and colloidal silver gel (Nature's Sunshine Silver Shield is the silver gel) on her eye. We also have been giving her 1 teaspoon of 18PPM colloidal silver (my wife makes it) twice per day by using a syringe (with the needle removed) in addition to putting a small amount in her water (1 teaspoon of colloidal silver per cup of water). I think, no, I know she is going to make a 100% recovery and be just fine..!!

Pictures of Coconuts Recovery: https://onedrive.live.com/?cid=C6D6E39E9CCE062A&id=C6D6E39E9CCE062A!11653

 

[Wol1]

She's so lucky to have found you!

Good luck to you and Coconut.

Can't wait to see her all grown up. Will you keep us updated? Do you have any idea what breed/type she is?

I'm afraid to ask, but...?....are you sure she's a she?

 

[Sammykins]

She looks great!! Love hearing stories like these, makes me feel like there is still love in this world! Coconut is one lucky chick.