4 week old chick has eye swollen shut, help?

[mistyleigh1979]

I recently got my very first chickens, I got them at 1week old, and have had them for 3 weeks today. They are all different breeds, the one I am concerned about is my Ameraucana. She has a really swollen eye. She is eating and drinking normally, acting normal as well. She is the biggest in my flock, so I am not sure if one if the other chickens could have pecked her or not...I am very inexperienced so I looked all over these message boards trying to find out what to do myself but all the posts about swollen eyes are for much older chickens. At 4 weeks old should I get the Tylan 50? If so how much how often? I don't see any scratches or scabs, it was just gunky and when I washed it she opened it partially, there is no visible drainage. But under her eye is very swollen. I don't see any bubbles at all, and just noticed this today. I am posting a pic of her good eye and the swollen one, any help would be GREATLY appreciated.

 

[mistyleigh1979]

 

[mistyleigh1979]

 

[mistyleigh1979]

Anyone?

 

[Tappy4me]

Someone else will have to come along and give a definite answer, but I would think you could use some bacitracin like what we would use for an eye infection?

 

[Eggcessive]

Your third picture shows bubbles or foam in the eye. Is there any bad smell around the head? Is there any nasal drainage, rattly sounds, or sneezing coming from the chick? Have you tried to contact the breeder of this chick to ask questions? It is possible that the chick has a respiratory disease such as mycoplasma or coryza, or another disease. You can treat your chick with Tylan Powder, Oxytetracycline, Gallimycin, or Duramycin in the water, but it may help the symptoms without permanently curing the bird. It will be a carrier. Here is a list of many of these respiratory diseases and symptoms for you to read about them: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044

 

[mistyleigh1979]

Thank you for the responses, I guess I don't know what is meant by "bubbles" because I don't see anything I would describe as a bubble...she doesn't have any other symptoms, no rattling sound or runny nose etc. I tried to get ahold of the breeder but she isn't available until Monday. If I can get the Tylan powder tomorrow at tsc how should I administer it? And as a carrier does that mean she will get the rest of my chicks sick? Now that I am paying super close attention to all of them, I heard one of the others sneeze twice and now I'm worried all of them are going to die. Thank you again for any knowledge you have on this subject.

 

[mistyleigh1979]

I think it looks better than it did right after I cleaned it, her eye is open a lot more...

 

[Eggcessive]

Tylan Soluble Powder can be expensive--$50. The dose is 1 tsp per gallon, so it will last for a long time. Tylan50 injectible is for shots into the breast muscle, but many use it orally, although I'm not sure how well that it works. The dosage for Tylan50 (which costs around $12-14) would be 1/4 ml by mouth daily (I wouldn't give a shot to a chick this young) for 5 days. If you can't find Tylan50 or powder, get one of the others. Look closely at your 3rd picture--click on it to enlarge it and you should see the bubbles. Sorry that you are going through this.

Yes, I agree that the eye looks better after cleaning.

 

[mistyleigh1979]

Thank you so much for your help. One last question. Should I go ahead and dose all 4? One has the eye thing, another sneezed...the other 2 seem fine but they have certainly been exposed, right? Thank you again!