Lazy Eye or sick?

[Dee5385]

I got our first chickens from an auction....I'm starting to get nervous after reading some posts. One of the hens has an eye she doesn't open much. She only opens it when I'm in the coop moving the straw or near here making noise. She'll open the eye but quickly close it. I don't know if she got injured at some point. When she does open it the eye looks fine. I haven't really been keeping tracking of which ones are pooping but I'm going to start. I working during the day so I'm not around them a ton....how can I tell if they are pooping? I have noticied she's been sitting a lot when the others are moving around.

Should I be concerned....what should I do?

 

[farmtotable]

I think the only way you can keep track of who is pooping what and where is to isolate each member of your flock in a separate area. I would isolate the one you're concerned about, even if it's just in a pet crate or a nesting box with a fence piece or something placed in front of it. Then you know for sure what's she's pooping. She might have an irritation or something in her eye, or it might be a congenital defect. If it's not weeping pus or something like that, I would just leave it alone. She could have a scratch on her cornea, which you wouldn't necessarily be able to see, but which would irritate her. Chickens are pretty resilient, I have one that lost an eye as a pullet and she's doing fine now. when she's sitting, is she puffed up? Is her head sort of retracted into her body? Those are signs that she's sick. If she's sitting in one spot and makes a funky noise when you reach under her, or pecks your hand, that's a sign she's broody. That's perfectly natural, she just wants to sit on eggs. All that being said, I would probably buy your chicks from a reputable breeder rather than an auction. Auctions don't really quarantine or do health screens on the stock for sale, so you literally don't know what you're getting along with what you're getting.

 

[Dee5385]

Good news....Lucy's opening her eye regularly now! Maybe she got pecked or something. I'll keep an eye on it; no pun intended; just to make sure nothing else happens but I'm so happy to see both her eyes open.