GLW has eye issue and shakes head

[Cluck-a-biddy]

Hi guys! I was hoping somebody might be able to tell me what's wrong with one of my girls. One of my Golden laced Wyandottes, Josephine (yr and a half old), has been having some sort of problem with her left eye for a couple of weeks now. It started with her just closing it off and on. Over time tho, she's gotten to where she keeps it shut all the time. It doesn't appear to be swollen and I don't see any kind of injury anywhere on her at all, other than a little bumblefoot, which I'm keeping an eye on. But nothing on her head or face. And when she does open the eye, it looks normal. Over the spring and summer, she lost a lot of the little feathers on a good part of her head. My husband says she looks like a buzzard. I just attributed that to some moulting, as her sister Frederika has lost a bit of them on her head also. Plus the two older EEs have lost a ton of feathers on their necks from moulting. There are no visible mites or anything else on any of the girls. The weird thing tho about Josephine, is she also began occasionally doing this weird head shaking thing shortly after the eye began closing. In the last few days it's gotten progressively worse. She leans her head onto her back, like upside-down, and wiggles her head back and forth a few times. She is not having any problem eating or getting around. Her weight is normal. As far as I know her poops are normal. I'm not sure how often she is laying, as all the girls seem to have slowed down a bit with the changing weather. I sometimes startle her if I try to touch her, coming from the blind-side. She doesn't like being picked up or even touched most of the time, so I haven't had much luck trying to get a closer look. The head shaking thing seems to occur very frequently lately. I'm wondering if she's had some sort of head injury that's not visible. Could the head shaking be some sort of a seizure? Or maybe the eye hurts or itches and her way of dealing with it is to try to shake it off? I just don't know. I feel sorry for her. She was my protector of the two white silkies I had last yr. I ended up re-homing them as one was a rooster, which I couldn't keep. And I didn't want to keep the female alone because the bigger birds chased them relentlessly as a pair. But she always protected them from the other girls. Josephine has always been a stalwart, and I don't want her to become an outcast. So far, the other (12) girls are not harassing her, but I'm afraid it could happen eventually. She does seem to be a bit more of a loner than usual tho. Keeps to herself mostly, and I sometimes see her just sitting and falling asleep. I'm not sure what to do for her...

 

[Eggcessive]

Would it be possible to post a video of the head movement to YouTube with a link posted here, or at least a picture here of Josephine's eye? Head shaking can be due to respiratory infections in the sinus or ears, mites or lice, ear infections, and some can be neurological or crop-related. check her ears for swelling or drainage--gently use a Qtip. Look around for lice and mites under vent, around neck, and under wings. If she has been molting, sometimes the new feathers coming in will be itchy. There could be something going on with the eye. Look inside it, and think about using some lubricating eye drops or Vetericyn eye gel into it.

 

[Cluck-a-biddy]

Would it be possible to post a video of the head movement to YouTube with a link posted here, or at least a picture here of Josephine's eye? Head shaking can be due to respiratory infections in the sinus or ears, mites or lice, ear infections, and some can be neurological or crop-related. check her ears for swelling or drainage--gently use a Qtip. Look around for lice and mites under vent, around neck, and under wings. If she has been molting, sometimes the new feathers coming in will be itchy. There could be something going on with the eye. Look inside it, and think about using some lubricating eye drops or Vetericyn eye gel into it.

I will try to get pics and video tonight. I'm at work now. Thanks!!

 

[Cluck-a-biddy]

Ok, we put some lubricating drops in Josephine's eye and some of that Systhane eye lubricant gel that I got for my own dry eyes awhile back. It seems she just has something in her eye, and the head shaking appears to be due to the eye either just bothering her or maybe itching. She's clean. No lice, mites, injuries or anything else. We'll keep putting the lubricant in her eye until hopefully it will clear up. I tried to get video of her head-shaking, but every time I turned the camera on, she stopped doing it. LOL Oh well.

 

[sawilliams]

Is she scratching at it? Like with her foot?

I'm just wondering becuase one of my girls got a wheat grass bur in her eye once and it was swollen and red and she was like trying to claw at it with her foot.