11 day old chick bad eye and going in circles

[Fancychooklady]

Hi Fancychooklady,
There is swelling around the eye.  No snot or sneezing though.
She rubs her eye on her wing making it greesy looking and by doing so rubs the feathers over her eye into her eye and it's really hard to pull those little feathers out of her tender little eyeball!
I've been putting Teramycin gel in her eye for about 5 days now.  She hasn't been near cockroaches and her eye was showing signs her first day out of the shell.

Continue with the terramycin gel. The eye may have been damaged or scratched during hatch. The right eye is the one they use for near vision and left for long sight, so if the vision is blurred it would be quite natural for it to be rubbing the eye. I have a one eyed hen and she is 7 years old.
The list of possibilities is long when dealing with poultry diseases and without vetinerary advice diagnoses is often a long shot.
Here is a link to help you .

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044

 

[Fancychooklady]

Vitamin A and E are usually connected to visual disorders. I would still be leaning towards upper respiratory or irritation to the eye itself. This is a good article.

http://www.joneshamiltonag.com/jh/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/PLT_Poultry-Eye-Disorders.pdf

 

[Eggcessive]

Since you had been using PolyVisol in the beginning, and using vitamin E and selenium, you have been doing the right thing. B complex is in that. However, since you are having a hard time giving the drops orally, I would suggest buying some Rooster Booster Vitamins With Lactobacillus at Tractor Supply. You just follow the directions, and add it to water, and the others can drink it as well. Selenium is not in that, so you can give it a little bit of egg daily for selenium. The eye may have been damaged at hatch especially if it had shell sticking to it. Here is a good link about wry neck (torticolis,) as well as a long thread with different people's experinces:
http://www.browneggblueegg.com/Article/Crookneck/Crookneck.html
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/97121/lets-talk-wry-neck-crook-neck

 

[Daisy Chick]

Thanks Fancychook, I have seen that list, oy...
I probably should have taken her to the vet in the first place but it seems like a lot of vets don't know chicken stuff.

 

[Daisy Chick]

Thanks for answering my "how to administer" question. I just squirted too much in it's mouth then found your reply. I think I get the hang of it now.
I've read descriptions of wry neck and my bird doesn't put it's head down or between it's legs like described. Just repeatedly turning the head to it's left and circles to it's left.

 

[Daisy Chick]

Thank you for the second link Eggsessive.

 

[Elaine Elder]

you just put the needle next to the beak. a tiny drop on the side of the beak will go into the beak, they swallow.
That's why diabetic syringes are best. so tiny.

Adult chickens need shots to work best. Babies are so fragile, the injection could cause bacterial infection at injection site.
I'm pretty sure I stated in a previous post, orally to chicks injections to adults. But you have to have a syringe to get the dose out of the bottle. Or you break the seal and ruin the contents.
I think I posted last at 4 am. If it was that important to her, I felt I needed to at least offer what I could.

Microplasma G. is deadly. They usually just die
Microplasma S. is so prevalent its like the common cold in humans. It does not need to be treated unless secondary infection presents.
Both are spread from flock to flock by wild birds.

Every one that owns chickens should know everything there is to know about both microplasmas

In Georgia it is now standard to test for both. (All known poultry diseases are tested for)
A positive test for MG or AI or the other fatal and contagious diseases means the entire flock may be euthanized.
Microplasma S. is not serious, a positive test just lets you know why all your chickens have a runny nose.

Last Wednesday, I had 180 chickens tested by the Georgia Poultry Lab. Georgia is the largest producer of broilers in the U.S. So Georgia takes diseases in poultry very seriously.

Most people on this forum have a few birds and can take the time and effort to take care of one sick bird.
I spend 4 to 6 hours per day, taking care of healthy birds. Most are in movable tractors. I move every other day to keep the pasture healthy. And to keep the birds healthy. New grass and dirt means no coccidiosis or internal parasites. But all those moving coops have individual water and feeders.
Over the last 15 years, I have learned a lot about how to treat diseases, how to prevent disease, how to fix wounded animals. If someone wants my help. I will give help.

I would appreciate any additional help others offer to those seeking help, offer their own opinion without questioning my knowledge and methods.

I can save a chicken or a goat or a dog or a cat. I am primarily my own vet. I have reached into a struggling mother goat and pulled out twins and all 3 survived. I have stitched up goats and chickens with open wounds that really should not have survived. I have treated countless chickens for minor ailments. I have set bones on baby goats and legs and wings on chickens with vet wrap and Popsicle sticks. Did you know oragel teething gel has enough lidocain in it to numb a wound for 10 minutes. That is long enough for me to stitch it up. Did you know that because open wounds in a barnyard or pasture are full of contaminants that a tube must be inserted into the wound so it can drain as it heals. A drinking straw will work. Did you know maggots in a wound are the best thing for it. Maggots only eat necrotic flesh, leaving the healthy flesh intact and sterilized so it can heal better. Cat's skin heals faster than the muscle and tissue below. a cat needs a wound lanced usually twice before it heals completely. Like popping a zit with a xacto knife. Wild lettuce that grows on the side of the road can be given to any herbivore as an analgesic, you can eat it in a salad for the same results. But if you dry it and smoke it in a pipe, its more potent than oxycontin with no worries about addiction. You can blow the smoke in the face of an animal in pain and they will settle down to rest so they can heal. A wounded animal usually does not die from the wound but from the shock. Sedating an animal or giving it baby motrin to ease the pain will help it heal faster because it is more comfortable. There are dozens of herbs that have wonderful health benefits. My chicks get herbal formula senior horse feed that I put into a food processor to make it small enough to eat as day old chicks.

On my part, I will endeavor to be more clear in my directions. But ultimately it is in the hands of the person taking my advise on how to implement my suggestions.

My friend had to euthanize 240 birds.
The State oversaw it all while she cried.
It took a semi to haul away the dead chickens to be incinerated.
Micro-plasma G. is no joke and is not treatable.
Micro-plasma S. is basically a cold.
Everyone should know the difference.

My husband asks why I bother with all my animals, because it hurts every time I lose one. I reply: because I love them.

 

[Daisy Chick]

Thank you again Elaine,
I am STILL waiting for the feed store to get the B complex I ordered.
In the mean time I sprinkle brewers yeast on their food, putting vit E and selenium on sunflower seeds for the sick one (the quantity is vague as it eats so delicately I don't know how much it's getting). I'm giving her a drop of baby motrin 3xday and poly vi sol maybe a quarter dropper two or 3xday.

More questions:

How long should/can they be on the antibiotic Duramycin? I put it in the water at the highest dose ( I was trying to keep her separate most the time so she only drank her water but she outgrew her cage and was lonely so I put her with the others and so they're all drinking the antibiotic. I was reluctant to give the healthy birds antibiotics.) I have yet to get probiotic for them.

How long do I treat the eye with the Terramycin? Is there a point where it's doing more harm than good? The skin around the eyeball is still pink and puffy but the puss is long gone. The eye still looks watery and like it's stretched open. It's irritated so she rubs it on her wing a lot.

What kind of probiotic? Human or is it something the feedstore would have? Yogurt?

Lastly, I know this chick would have died or been culled in a normal livestock situation but I have a small flock (5 adult birds and these 5 chicks). I feel kind of silly putting so much into this but this bird is hanging on, not to mention I'm attached to the little thing now and any tiny improvement I THINK I see keeps me hopeful. I appreciate everyone's help here on this forum and knowing that people from around the world love critters like me and have the patience and time to help someone who is a novice.

 

[Elaine Elder]

If it outgrew its cage it is probably going to make it.
Growing is a really good sign.
Did You Google Micro-plasma G.
If it get that and survives, you need to take Precautions with new birds later.
All of yours have been exposed and just did not show symptoms. All are now carriers. If you ever get new birds- house separately. If you currently have chickens outside, if you put these with those, they will pass it on. Summer is a good time to expose birds. they usually do not even show symptoms.
Micro plasma S. is no big deal. just a common cold. You have to hone them tested to KNOW which one.

But Growing is a very good!
5-7 days max on antibiotics. Probiotics to repopulate gut with digestive .... You know what I'm talking about
Capsules from drugstore work. Yogurt does not have quite enough to really do any good when the intestines have been totally depopulated. This will sound wierd... but chew some things up. Blue berries, strawberries etc. give to the chick. it also needs the enzymes in saliva back in system. watch mamma hens. they pick up stuff and give it to babies. passes on enzymes. mammals lick the babies face. We kiss our babies. You are mamma now. Don't kiss it (salmonella etc...) but feed it.

Let me Know if you need anything else.
BunnyFeathers.com

 

[Fancychooklady]

Thank you again Elaine,
I am STILL waiting for the feed store to get the B complex I ordered.
In the mean time I sprinkle brewers yeast on their food, putting vit E and selenium on sunflower seeds for the sick one (the quantity is vague as it eats so delicately I don't know how much it's getting).  I'm giving her a drop of baby motrin 3xday and poly vi sol maybe a quarter dropper two or 3xday.

More questions:

How long should/can they be on the antibiotic Duramycin?  I put it in the water at the highest dose ( I was trying to keep her separate most the time so she only drank her water but she outgrew her cage and was lonely so I put her with the others and so they're all drinking the antibiotic.  I was reluctant to give the healthy birds antibiotics.)  I have yet to get probiotic for them. 

How long do I treat the eye with the Terramycin?  Is there a point where it's doing more harm than good?  The skin around the eyeball is still pink and puffy but the puss is long gone.  The eye still looks watery and like it's stretched open. It's irritated so she rubs it on her wing a lot.

What kind of probiotic?  Human or is it something the feedstore would have? Yogurt?

Lastly, I know this chick would have died or been culled in a normal livestock situation but I have a small flock (5 adult birds and these 5 chicks).  I feel kind of silly putting so much into this but this bird is hanging on, not to mention I'm attached to the little thing now and any tiny improvement I THINK I see keeps me hopeful.  I appreciate everyone's help here on this forum and knowing that people from around the world love critters like me and have the patience and time to help someone who is a novice.
We all do our best for our animals . On our farm we are often forced to take matters in our own hands. Our equine vet has shown us enough to get us through in times of emergency. 3 weeks ago we had a horse with a broken leg and as devastating as it was we had to deal with it as there was no vet within an hours drive.
Without professional advice or necropsy we are treating the symptoms and that is sometimes the best we can do.
Producers are under many more restrictions than small holders. Coryza and CRD are reportable diseases and if the authorities are called in they will cull the entire flock. With mycoplasma you birds can appear to be recovered and then relapse and any birds that recover can be ' carriers ' . The biggest impact on producers is the drop in production caused by these diseases. All that being said your chick may not have any of these diseases, so treat the symptoms and hope for the best. The best advice I can give you, is that if you see other symptoms keep a ' closed ' flock, no more birds in or out until such time that your existing flock are gone. I wish you luck.