Bantam has swollen eye with cloudy yellow stuff

[AndChicksMake10]

Baby Madge is a 6.5 weeks old Bantam Barred Rock. We noticed she kept one eye shut a couple of days ago, and today I looked closely at her. One eye is swollen pink underneath, and I see cloudy yellow stuff when I pull the eyelids apart. Nothing is oozing out. She seems listless as well.

The regular sized chicks seem fine. I don't remember that I had the option to get the bantam vaccinated for Marek's.

None of the chicken health info seems conclusive. Has anybody seen this in their chicks? Are we doomed to lose her?

 

[AndChicksMake10]

I hope this isn't going to hurt her -- I tried flushing her eye with saline (the kind for people) and putting on some neomycin. That's all I can find in the house tonight. Baby Madge is sleeping in the laundry room, making baby chick whistling sounds. She ate and drank. I guess we'll see.

She is a very sweet chicken - I want her to grow up!

 

[sammi]

the saline eye wash is fine.
try and get some terramycin eye ointment at feed/farm store.

she might need Tylan 50 injectible..
could be a symptom of respiratory illness..or sinus infection.

any mucus from nostrils or beak?
any swelling of eyes, head, wattles?

she might need a sinus flush..

 

[AndChicksMake10]

Other than the eye she seems ok. no cough or runny nose, but she's content to quietly perch on my finger (her balance is fine).

She is opening the eye now --it's still really swollen and pink. I don't have the camera handy but it looks kind of like this https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=88035)
and it seems to have a glob of yellow stuff over the cornea -- like an instant cataract. I can't tell if the neosporin is helping but it's all I have until Monday when I can get to the feed store.

Could it be an eyeworm?

 

[timbofarms]

next it will start gasp for air. i'm sorry

 

[jenni2142]

did you read that entire thread? maybe you can try what they did. sometimes a swollen eye is just an injury. keep flushing with the saline and get the ointment sammi suggested. i don't think you are supposed to put neosporin in the eye, or did you mean something else? watch closely for other symptoms. it would be good to have the tylan on hand just in case, it stays good for a while and you might need it later.

 

[AndChicksMake10]

I did read that whole thread (later on). I can't quite figure out the process, and am hesitant to poke anything in her mouth -- she's a baby bantam (7 weeks), and so pretty little.

My mom told me about not putting neosporin in the eye after I'd already done it. Somebody else said they'd done it with no harm, so I'm crossing my fingers. It's been a week or so and Baby Madge isn't sniffling or anything different, so maybe it is just the eye. I'm going to go to the feed store tomorrow and hopefully get terramycin and the tylan 50.

Where can I find out about chicken eye anatomy? I'm not sure what's the deal with the 3 eyelids -- maybe the goop is stuck under one of them?

 

[Indiana hens]

You are supposed to throw away any unused eye meds and ear meds after you are healed! If you had eye drop penicillin left over around the house; I'd use it. Ear drops penicillin works too. Oops , so I've heard! You know just about any liquid penicillin dropped in the eye would work.

 

[jenni2142]

they have the 2 eyelids like we do only the lower is bigger and comes up. the third goes from front to back, have to look hard to see it. the terramycin eye ointment is good. if you use something else to apply it, like a clean finger tip, you can save the tube for future use. you will have a lot left over and at $13 a tube worth it to save. maybe you could pm the other from that thread for more info on how they did it. i would be nervous about the q-tip on the roof of the mouth too, all of mine hate q-tips with a passion and attack them on site. i think the vet rx might be found at tsc, another good thing to have on hand. i hope everything goes okay, will check back to see how it's going. hopefully sammi will check back, she is very knowledgeable and helpful.

 

[AndChicksMake10]

Thanks to y'all who've taken the time to help out. I got out the camera tonight, and I think I should be posting to the "how the heck do you take a decent picture of a chicken?" forum instead!

Here's a very blurry photo of Baby Madge showing both eyes:

And here's a blurry photo of the "bad" eye (infected?). When she opens it it looks like a big pad of yellow stuff covering the center, like a cataract.

I got terramycin today - $17 at the vet, which is closer and has more reliable hours than the feed store. She doesn't seem to scratch at the eye, and there's no sniffling. She's been inside for several days, and I put her out for a while each day in an enclosure apart from the others -- I'm afraid they'll peck at the pink bump. She jumped and scratched ok when she was outside, and her poop is fine. I hope it's not too late to save her eye. Will keep you posted -- maybe the thread will help somebody else's chicken down the way.