Thank you, I'll check those sources.
Meanwhile, I believe I was able to relieve her swelling.
Please don't read any further if you don't want to get grossed out!!! I'm writing about this in detail, in hopes of helping anyone else out who is also dealing with this problem.
I'm glad to report that I was able to squeeze a big glob of thick yellowish gunk out of her eye this evening, & hope to find her much improved in the morning.
Poor girl, I made her a dish of warm mash, layer pellets mixed with warm water, with some raisins, grated apple, and cracked corn on top. I sprinkled the antibiotic powder over it all. I set her on the ground to eat, and she toddled around the yard for the rest of the day. Gave herself a dust bath & munched on fresh green grass, and joined her flock when they were turned out for the afternoon. She's so thin & light, yet still so lively.
She went to roost in the coop with her flock at nightfall, but I took her out to give her another dose of the Vet Rx. I wrap her in a towel so she won't flap, lay her on her affected side, soak a Q-tip in the medicine, and push it up hard into the slit in the roof of her mouth. This time it made a little bit of white liquid come out of the eye. I've been trying each night to squeeze it all out, this time I really went at it from all different angles, and prayed mightily, and finally got what I hope is all of the gunk to come out.
Right now the eye is still closed, the swelling gone, but her lids are sort of loose, from being stretched out from the swelling. I hope to find it back to normal by tomorrow night, it took about that long for the last hen that had this.
This is when I wish I had a vet in the house, I really hate to deal with eye ailments, eye or nail problems both make me squeemish. But it makes me feel really good to be able to relieve this hen's suffering. I hope she makes as good of a recovery as the last hen I helped, she had it in both eyes, was completely blind, but afterwards looked as good as new.
Squawk Box, if you're still reading this, please tell us how your hen is doing. Well, I hope!
