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- #451
I would use something like a saline eye wash to wash it out good. Then try to work a bit of the ointment under the bottom lid. She will obviously close her eye when you try to do this and that will smear it inside. You might could use a q-tip if you are really careful. A helper could be good. If she is easy to handle that will be a big plus. I don't think I would try to dilute it.
Some time ago, I had a hen I suspected had some grit in her eye. She was doing a lot of blinking especially with that little membrane eye lid.
It was kind of red too. She is very easy to handle. I sat in a lawn chair, took my time and washed it out, applied the ointment with a q-tip. Tried to be really careful not to poke her. Then I took my finger and rubbed gently from the inner corner to the outer corner of the eye lid. It was easier than I thought it would be but she is a lap chicken. They expect treats when you do this stuff too.
As for Marek's, it can present many ways. I try to look for the simple solutions first. Things I think I can treat. There are sooo many things that can happen with birds. I just will not look at the worst until I try everything else first!
I did my best. Zinni's generally an easy to handle bird, but she did not enjoy me handling her for this! All I have on hand is plain polysporin (the same antibiotics as neosporin minus one, the neomycin), so hopefully that is good enough for now. I also attempted to get pictures of her eyes, but between her blinking and moving her head around in reaction to the camera flash, not a single one came out.
When all was said and done, she wanted out of my lap right then and there! 
She did perk up almost immediately afterward, though! Not sure if that was in response to the ointment giving her some form of relief, or if it was just because I was out there and she's a very human-focused bird. The rain recently has made the flies and mosquitoes a bit unbearable out there, so was I only able to stick around long enough to hold a few hand fulls of pellets out for her to eat and then I had to flee back to the safety of the house.
Luckily, they don't seem to bother the birds as much as they do me--or maybe the birds just eat them if they try!
The incubator is warming up and I'll set the eggs in an hour or two. Washburne, who I've long suspected has been the only hen laying in that coop so far this year, seems to be going broody now, so I guess that finalizes my choice of setting the corner coop eggs this week and Blue coop eggs next week as I likely won't see any more corner coop eggs for a while. 
Mama Amaretto is very displeased about me messing with her babies. 
