15 mos old chicken with swollen eye in NH

[DownwardDog]

Yesterday, my kids noticed that "Comet" had a swollen eye. Today, it looks a little worse. I have taken a bunch of pics, including one of her good eye, so you can compare. You can see (on the 1st pic and 3rd to last pic) there is a "dot" that was just a bit bigger yesterday -- I was thinking she got stung by something -- we have lots of wasps and hornets around, including deer and horse flies, as well as plenty of Japanese Beetles. This is my first real illness/injury in any of my hens, so I was wondering if anyone else thought she could have just been stung, or is this the start of an illness/infection? I am open to any comments, not sure where to start! She seems to be acting fine, I haven't actually witnessed her eat or drink (they free-range), but she was on a nesting box earlier. She was in the middle of taking a dust bath when I got my son to hold her so I could take pics She does seem sensitive to it, I tried to get some dirt away from it and she didn't like me touching it, she just closed up her eye all the way. I did notice her shaking her head every once in a while, and occasionally she would stretch her neck out a bit and "yawn." Thoughts?
Thanks, everyone!!!!

 

[birdlady79]

It sounds more like respitory to me since she's yawning and shaking her head...they can get stung though... If you see a stinger you can remove it and use a baking soda paste on it, to take the sting out.... Tylan50 is good for respitory.

 

[DownwardDog]

What is Tylan50? An antibiotic?

I would think if it was respiratory, both sides of her face would be affected. Her nose isn't running or anything, and she isn't doing that yawning/stretching thing very often. I don't see a stinger, but then again the spot just had some clotted blood (very tiny) so I wouldn't have seen it. Tonight as I was locking them up, her eye seemed more weepy than before and my husband thought the swelling was better than in the pics. I'll see what she looks like in the morning.

 

[casportpony]

What is Tylan50? An antibiotic?

I would think if it was respiratory, both sides of her face would be affected. Her nose isn't running or anything, and she isn't doing that yawning/stretching thing very often. I don't see a stinger, but then again the spot just had some clotted blood (very tiny) so I wouldn't have seen it. Tonight as I was locking them up, her eye seemed more weepy than before and my husband thought the swelling was better than in the pics. I'll see what she looks like in the morning.

Yes, it's the antibiotic Tylosin 50mg/ml. If she were mine I would weigh her now and only treat her if she got worse, started to lose weight or stopped eating.

-Kathy

 

[Eggcessive]

Usually when there is a respiratory disease such as mycoplasma (MG) or coryza, there is swelling in only one eye, but it can occur in both. Shaking of the head, and stretching the neck are other signs of resp. disease. There can be bubbles or foam in the eye, nasal drainage either thin or tick, and listen for rattles or wheezes when breathing. That does look like a sting or peck mark around the eye, so I would watch it. Most resp. diseases can make carriers of the flock. Here is a list of the common diseases: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044

 

[DownwardDog]

Thanks everyone. Comet looks almost back to normal today! Yay! She must have been stung after all.