Banty hen with Swollen Eye

[Breac]

Three days ago I found little cornish bantam, Violet, with a severely swollen left eye. A quick peek inside revealed there was no pus, gunk, or discharge. It seemed like the eye itself was fine, but the tissue around it was all puffed up. I assumed she must have poked it on something and it would slowly get better after I isolated her. So far, her eye hasn't improved. She is eating/drinking and alert and active.
For the most part, there are no other symptoms. Occasionally she will fluff herself up as if she was cold, and sometimes I see her throat inflating when she breathes, even though her actual breathing is easy and silent. I don't know if any of these things are related or relevant, but I thought I'd post anyway.

Here's a photo of the eye:

 

[CapricornFarm]

ouch! Looks like a nasty case of infectious coryza. Even if you treat her, she will always be a carrier. Sorry, I would cull.:'(

 

[kidcody]

X2

 

[Breac]

Oh no, Coryza? Really? She doesn't have any of the other symptoms, like smelly discharge/runny nose/difficulty breathing. It just looks like her eye got injured...

Is there any way to tell for certain she has Coryza before I do anything? I don't want to cull her if I can help it.

 

[CapricornFarm]

I would say 90% chance that's what it is. Looks painful too. Have you given her any baby aspirin or put ointment in her eye? I think only part of an aspirin for bantams.

 

[Breac]

Quote:
So far I haven't done anything other than try to put an ice pack on it. (That went about as well as one might imagine.) I don't know what sort of ointment I could use that would be okay for a bantam's eye. I didn't know chickens could take aspirin. I'll go see if I have any of the baby aspirin.

 

[CapricornFarm]

Terramycin can be purchased at feed stores, it's kind of pricey, about $13. But you don't need much so you would have it on hand. I use it for goats too. I would try to put her on some sort of antibiotics too if you are determined to keep her. That eye is very swollen.

 

[AngelzFyre]

She could have also gotten stung or bitten by the looks of it. There is a place toward the underneath and outer of her eye that is stretched especially tight.
Terramycin Opthalmic ointment won't hurt to put into the eye and around it and hopefully if it's a sting or bite the swelling will start going down with treatment. Cool compresses would be helpful too.
You can also put some cortisone ointment underneath her eye where it won't get into it and see if that will help with the swelling. Do not get it into the eye in case it's been scratched.

 

[Rosecomb-Ryan]

I wish we could get a cornish expert, because I think they get eye problems easily...

 

[hmlongino]

Could be MG. It starts with this, turns to sneezing, I'd say half die from it... the rest are carriers for life. I hope not, but that's my bet.