Brown/Yellow Muscous in Eye Ended Up Being a Puncture

[MrSpace]

This is our first flock and Pecking Order just took on a whole new meaning. One of our Barred Rocks we had taken to calling "Loner" because she was rarely with the others. On Friday, she disappeared completely for hours when the flock was out in the yard and we assumed the worst, but luckily returned to us. Our unintentional rooster and his beta hen are the bosses. All around 18 weeks old and Roo has started aggressively mating with them all - even the second Loner was returned to the coop after her absence.

Sunday, when we were fetching Loner from an unusual resting spot, about 10 yards into the woods on our property (maybe an egg, we thought), we noticed her eye was shut and had dark yellow mucous in it and we assumed an illness and brought her to the vet.

Turns out, it was a perforated eye - most likely from being pecked at. WTH!! Probably why she ran away on Friday. Now she's in the brooder by herself and on medication/eye drops. Not sure how we're going to reincorporate her if they're beating up on her like this! Any ideas?

PS - Thankful for this online community because I came here first to research the eye discharge and saw that there is a very infectious eye thing that chickens can get and hence the Sunday vet visit.

 

[Chick-N-Fun]

Can you put a Non aggressive friend in the brooder with her? Reintegration will be easier with 2 birds than with just one. Is the brooder in a “see but don’t touch” kennel or is it separate from the flock???

 

[MrSpace]

The brooder is in our garage, so she's totally out of site. Putting another hen in there sounds like a good idea. Thanks!

 

[Chick-N-Fun]

The brooder is in our garage, so she's totally out of site. Putting another hen in there sounds like a good idea. Thanks!

You are welcome! Good luck!

 

[Eggcessive]

So sorry about your pullet. What breed is she? I had a polish hen who was always running into other chickens and invading their space, and she lost the sight in one eye. It took a few days to tell whether the eye was intact or not from the swelling. Chickens can get along fairly well in a small flock with just one eye, but mine who not the brightest little hen, would get lost if she got out of out gate. She was insecure as well. I like the idea of giving her a meek friend until she gets back into the flock. I hope she gets along well. By the way, did the vet prescribe any eye drops or ointment, and what were they?

 

[MrSpace]

Eye drops, antibiotic, and pain med... oh and we're going on vacation tomorrow and our chick-sitter is REALLY not pleased about the extra responsibility. Don't have the names of the meds handy but I'll circle back when I can.

Vet said we need to give the sitter POWER OF ATTORNEY.... for a chicken.... my head almost turned completely around.

 

[Eggcessive]

Is there a possibility of boarding her at the vet’s where they can age her and give her eye drops?

 

[MrSpace]

So sorry about your pullet. What breed is she? I had a polish hen who was always running into other chickens and invading their space, and she lost the sight in one eye. It took a few days to tell whether the eye was intact or not from the swelling. Chickens can get along fairly well in a small flock with just one eye, but mine who not the brightest little hen, would get lost if she got out of out gate. She was insecure as well. I like the idea of giving her a meek friend until she gets back into the flock. I hope she gets along well. By the way, did the vet prescribe any eye drops or ointment, and what were they?

Clavamox 250mg antibiotic tablet
Meloxicam 1.5mg/mL pain med drops
Ofloxacin antibiotic eye drops

 

[MrSpace]

Can you put a Non aggressive friend in the brooder with her? Reintegration will be easier with 2 birds than with just one. Is the brooder in a “see but don’t touch” kennel or is it separate from the flock???

Yikes! Even the "nice" chicks peck at her when we tried giving her a roommate.

 

[Eggcessive]

They will treat others like a stranger or invader when they have been out of the flock for more than a week or 10 days. It helps to put the chicken in a dog crate with it’s own food and water, and let them be together for a few days to get used to her again. Then some supervised free ranging before roosting time before putting her out all the time, to make sure the pecking doesn’t get too violent.