4 week old baby chick squinting and closing eyes

[alcstreetman]

Hello! I'm new to having chickens and could use a little help. I have a 4 week old lavender orphington who, over the last two weeks, has been keeping her eyes mainly closed. She will occasionally squint them when eating and moving about but in general, she's keeping them closed. She seems a little lethargic when compared to the others, sleeps while standing frequently, but it's not too terrible. There are no obvious issues, no discharge anywhere, etc. I thought maybe she had cocci so I treated the flock with corid but the 7 day treatment ended last Friday and she's still keeping her eyes closed. Nothing I read online seems to match well since she doesn't have any other visible issues. TIA. I don't want to lose her!

 

[Eggcessive]

Welcome to BYC. Is she just sleepy most of the time, or is something irritating her eyes? What is the brooder like where she is kept? How is the ventilation and what is the beeding that you are using? Have you tried to apply saline or an eye drop to her eyes? Do you see any swelling around the eyes, discharge, sneezing, or any nasal drainage?

 

[alcstreetman]

Welcome to BYC. Is she just sleepy most of the time, or is something irritating her eyes? What is the brooder like where she is kept? How is the ventilation and what is the beeding that you are using? Have you tried to apply saline or an eye drop to her eyes? Do you see any swelling around the eyes, discharge, sneezing, or any nasal drainage?

Hi! I'm not sure if she's sleepy or if something is irritating her eyes and so she's closing them. She is sleeping more than the others so I feel she is somewhat lethargic. They are kept in a large wire dog crate in our kitchen so the ventilation is great. I'm using pine shavings over paper towels as bedding. I do not see any discharge, or nasal drainage, and no sneezing. My cause for concern is only that she seems to not want to open her eyes, when she does they are not wide, more squinting, and that she is a sleepier all the others. She is most active early in the morning and then as the day goes on she sleeps more. She's eating and drinking very well, poops seem normal. After I made this post I witnessed her get pecked in the eye and she started bleeding. Though, I feel this is a separate issue as before this, there were no visible issues to her eyes. Now, one is a little swollen from the peck. I tried flushing with saline but I'm not sure much got in her eye and I was nervous about opening them. Any thoughts? Thank you so much for replying!

 

[alcstreetman]

These are not great photos but this is close up (before she got pecked) of her eye and then her walking around squinting.

 

[Eggcessive]

I wish I had more advice, but she may be just a weak chick. Other chicks will sometimes peck at bright objects and eyes are a popular spot. If you have some Terramycin eye ointment (from the feed store) or plain Neosporin, you could apply a dot to each eye twice a day to see if it helps.

 

[alcstreetman]

I wish I had more advice, but she may be just a weak chick. Other chicks will sometimes peck at bright objects and eyes are a popular spot. If you have some Terramycin eye ointment (from the feed store) or plain Neosporin, you could apply a dot to each eye twice a day to see if it helps.

Thank you! I'll try that. Hopefully she will be better soon!

 

[alcstreetman]

*UPDATE* in case anyone finds this post I wanted to update, hopefully it can help someone one day. A few days ago, my daughter noticed a small white bug crawling close to the chicks eye, I started googling around and came to the conclusion that it was a grain mite. It was sooo small and white and didn't match lice or chicken mites from what I could tell online. Well, I was holding her yesterday and when I put her down, I noticed a little bug that looked like a louse on my hand. I know what they look like because I have two young daughters and we've had lice hit our household a few times. I did more research, looked around the chicks vent and could definitely tell that she has a pretty bad lice infestation. I'm not sure if she has a type of mite as well. It seemed like there were small reddish looking bugs when I looked close to her head but it was hard to see and they move pretty fast so they still could have been lice. I think the small white bug was just a baby louse. I went out and got poultry protector and DE, I sprayed her and dusted her and gave the chicks wood ash and DE bust baths in their brooders. She is much better today and her eyes seem better. At least the one that didn't get pecked. I noticed another chick had lice so I'll be dusting the others and repeating and so and so forth until I can get rid of them. I got Sevin dust but I'm a little nervous about it. Anyway, just wanted to post this in case it helps someone who has a chick who is eating and otherwise healthy but squinting and slow moving... it could be a lice infestation!

 

[Eggcessive]

Oh, I am glad that you found the lice, and that may be the problem. Do you know how they got them? Permethrin garden dust, and permethrin 10 spray is very good for lice, and safe for chickens. They spray concentrate can be mixed with water and used in a spray bottle—37 ml per gallon of water.

 

[alcstreetman]

Oh, I am glad that you found the lice, and that may be the problem. Do you know how they got them? Permethrin garden dust, and permethrin 10 spray is very good for lice, and safe for chickens. They spray concentrate can be mixed with water and used in a spray bottle—37 ml per gallon of water.

I got the chicks from two locations so I'm not sure which had the lice. They've never been outside and since being with me, they've not been introduced to other birds. They are pretty infested. Ugh. I was looking for permethrin but did not see it. I may just order it. Lice. Must. GO. Will the Sevin Dust hurt them? Seems Sevin Dust and DE have mixed opinions. I doused them pretty good with both this evening... Thank you so much!