4 week old chick closing eyes and scratching

[Leitirmhor]

Hi! I am pretty new to chickens, and have a 4 week old Orpington chick that has been spending a lot of time with it's eyes closed. I noticed it yesterday afternoon. It is still bright, busy, eating, drinking, scratching, preening...but will close it's eyes for no apparent reason. At the feeder, at the drinker, while scratching the ground, and sometimes it will just stop, close its eyes and lie down, but then it will pop up and come running to see what's going on. It is scratching it's face more than usual (but not constantly), but other than that, I am not seeing any other signs. The right does seem slightly worse than the left. There's no swelling, no discharge, no redness, and no other respiratory signs. I am not seeing any evidence of mites, and no digestive upset. None of the other chicks are doing it. We moved them out of their brooder into a small tractor last Thursday, and they still have access to a heat plate (it's only 5 degrees out today WTH?!), they are still on the same starter they've been on since we got them. I did put a small dish of construction sand in the run for them on Sunday, so was wondering if maybe it's just irritated from scratching and dust bathing (they also dustbathe in the pine shavings in their coop), so thought about trying a saline wash, but wanted to see if anyone else had any insight as to what is happening, or thoughts on isolation.

Thank you!

 

[Eggcessive]

It could be the construction sand if this is a new symptom. Look at your ventilation, any ammonia odors, or wet bedding which can lead to mold. Where did she come from? The pictures are little foggy where it is hard to tell the brightness of the color or the shape of the pupils. Do her eyes look like the other chickens’ eyes? Eye symptoms can be early signs of a respiratory disease. Many pharmacies and Walmart sell a $4 bottle of Bausch and Lomb Eye Relief Eye Wash. It can be used to flush the eyes which may relief irritation. You also could use an antibiotic ointment called Terramycin from your feed store if there is infection.

 

[Leitirmhor]

Hi all! I just wanted to follow up on my question, in case someone is facing the same problem and comes across this post. I ended up trying the eye wash, and within minutes, her left eye was doing better, and this morning, she is not closing her eyes or scratching all. I am assuming she just had some irritation of something stuck in there. Thanks for the response Eggcessive!