3 week old Chick with injured eye

[FlickofFire]

Hi all

I have a small flock of Banty Cochins and full size aracaunas. I wanted to add some more large eggayers so I went with my neighbor to the feed store and we gitva variety of chicks 2 weeks ago.

When I got home I noticed one chick had it's left eye closed and Im betting it was that way at the store butvi didn't notice as we were picking them up and deciding whatvee wanted.

Since she kept opening it I didn't worry too much and it wasn't tearing and no goopies. After a few days I saw she kept it shut and it looked swollen but it's hard to tell. I started treating it 3 times a day with a triple antibiotic eye ointment and did some research on the web and it appeared that these infections can take a while to heal.

The third eyelid is red and covers the eyeball. Untill this week the eyeball itself was still black but now it seems milky. I think the eye is shot now.

Her eye never drained, had just a few boogers to clear out each day. No crust ooze or pus. Was this maybe a scratch? Or fungal infection? What do I do now? Can she live with one eye and keep up with the flock?

She eats and drinks and preens some but her wing feathers on thta side are crusty where she wipes her eye and she scratches at it. She isn't growing as well as the others as she won't eat as much. No one picks on her and they ignore her closed eye.

What should I do for her eye? The orbitbdoea look more puffy than her good eye and she wont open the bad eye. She is so tame now and such a sweet little thing. I dont want it to hurt her but I figured if she ate a d was running around it couldn't be too bad.

Thanks for your help
Amy

 

[tinman9952]

Amy, she's lucky to have one good eye. I have one that went totally blind and the others were merciless. I jst couldn't bring myself to cull her, so now she lives alone in the garage, and gives me an egg almost everyday. She "talks" to the other pullets through the door when they are out free ranging, and seems to be pretty content for the most part. I guess this isn't any help but I thought I'd mention it in case the rest of the flock becomes aggressive towards her.

 

[NanaKat]

Yes your baby will do well with one eye. I had a turkey baby that cut his eye on the wood shavings. The eye "died" and atrophied. Tom was just as active as the chickens and other turkeys.
Had to butcher him because he kept booming and strut challenging at my little nephew.

We also have a blind hen that stays in a separate pen in the hen house. She is now 6 years old and as sweet as ever. When I take her out in yard for some free range she walks and nibbles in a circle. She lets me know she is ready to go back when she sits down and makes a particular clucking sound.

Keep the antibiotic cream on the eye until the swelling goes down. It will no longer drain. It may become sunken as the eye is reabsorbed.

 

[FlickofFire]

Thanks for the replies! I was hoping they could adapt kind of like other animals can. She may not need to though!

I cleaned her eye yesterday a d when I got it 'unglued' and opened I thought for sure it was a goner as all I could see was yellow mush. I got my warm solution and started to dribble it in the eye and she wiggled and caused me to press a little to hard and out popped this HUGE yellow pellet of what I guess is infected material that compacted into this firm pellet that was as large as her eye. Itbwas kind if firm too.

Anyway, underneath was her eyball and it looked good. She has her eye mostly open now and appears to n
Be able to see from it. They eyelid is so stretched from the pellet it may take a bit for it to go back.

I'm going to keep the ointment up for a bit longer just to be sure.

Thanks!
Amy

 

[gritsar]

I have a chicken that's blind in one eye. She does just fine with the flock now that's she grown.
As a baby I took her aside every day and offered her an extra feeding. It takes her longer to zero in on her food and at the feeder the others didn't give her the time. The extra feedings helped.
Good luck with your chick.