Swollen eye, no other symptoms UPDATE P. 2

I have a hen with a swollen eye, no discharge, just swollen. I noticed she kept her eye closed most of the day on Thursday, but I didn't think much of it as my birds do that sometimes. Anyways, today it was pretty badly swollen. I isolated her and examined her. I pulled a big chunk of what I think was pine shavings out of her eye (couldn't tell for sure because it was coated with eye goo, you know how eyes coat foreign bodies with slime to try to protect the eye, yeah, that eye goo) and rubbed ophthalmic ointment in her eye. It seems to bother her, she rubs her eye constantly like I would expect someone with hay fever to do. Other than the massive swelling, she's in tip top shape. Good weight, very feisty and perky attitude, healthy appetite, desire to preen and continue social activities, absolutely no respiratory distress, and her other eye is clear and healthy. If it were something serious, I would expect some wheezing, coughing, or a runny nose, but there's none of that. Also, she's the only bird with a swollen eye. Do you think she just has an infection from dirt and gunk in her eye?

I'd squirt the eye with saline eye solution to wash out any debris.
you can get terramycin eye ointment at most farm/feed/pet stores..

wash daily, apply ointment 2-3 times a day..

if you have human eye antibiotic ointment or drops..you can use those.

watch for any other symptoms..mucus from beak, more swelling, wheezing..
be ready to get Tylan 50 injectible just in case.

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Yeah, I'm using the terramycin ointment already... that stuff is great.

I hope to god she doesn't develop any other symptoms.

go ahead and try and get some eye wash solution..

I have a bantam roo that got into it with a bigger roo..and got a bad eye injury..I thought sure he'd lose the eye, or at least his eyesight.
I used the eye wash (luckily I had some in the house) and eye antibiotic..
took a few weeks to get better, but he's fine now.

The ophthalmic ointment should be enough if it is antibiotic (usually Neosporin or Terramycin,) and if you feel you got all the trash out of there. She probably has a scratched cornea from the foreign material. It should heal fine.

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Yup, it's medicated with terramycin. I'm going to flush her eye in the morning to be sure that everything is out.

Would regular eye drops be ok? I don't have any generic saline solution. Or would distilled water work too?

I would stay away from most store bought eye drops, as they are usually intended to constrict blood vessels ("get the red out.") If you happen to have some that are solely intended to lubricate the eyeball, this would be fine.

You can make your own saline very simply: add a teaspoon of ordinary salt to a quart of water. Sounds like you have distilled water in the house. That is perfect; just add the salt to the water and warm it enough to dissolve the salt thoroughly (nuke it, maybe?) 1/4 tsp. of salt to a cup of water would be the same. You would want to deal with sterility of the solution for extended use, but for one flush, this should be fine.

Normal saline is more like what the body's "water" really is, so saline is always much more comfortable than water, and much less traumatic to tissue for things like wound cleaning.

That's great to know, thanks a ton for posting. I'll mix that up and rinse her eyes out tonight. Thanks again!

I always used Vetrx
and put 1/2 tsp down the throat
and rub it on the head and under the wings
and 2 tsp in a gallon of water
do this as long as the eye is swollen and needs some vetrx put in it

Try pouring used coffie ground juice into its eye. not cold not hot, room temp. Its a home rememby that goes back for a lot of years. it really works.
do this a couple times a day.