Chick couldn't open eye, is now dead. What was wrong? Contagious?

[squeakyballs]

This morning my 2 week old turken chick couldn't open one of his eyes. It didn't look crusty, but I rubbed it gently with warm water. He still couldn't open it, so I dabbed some neosporin on it and then put him back with the momma hen and other chicks.

He seemed okay, just not as active as the other chicks. I thought it was because he couldn't see as well.

I went out 4 hours later and he was dead.

Any ideas? Could it be contagious? The others seem fine so far.

They have fresh water and medicated chick food.

 

[True Grit]

Sorry, i don't know but I've read other posts about chickens that couldn't open an eye. I don't know what they had. Maybe you can search it.

 

[squeakyballs]

I did search... maybe with the wrong words though. It seems like shut eyes usually have crusties or are swollen. This one seemed fine, other than it being stuck shut.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Try this website: (If I knew the answer I would tell you!)

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044

 

[icemanchicken]

It could be several different things. When u picked the chicken up did you see clear liquid run out of its nose? If you still have him pry the eye open and see if it is filled with a white mucus. A lot of different chicken diseases have similar symptoms. It sounds to me like CRD which is a respiratory infection. If any of your other birds start having symptoms i would isolate them and start antibiotics.

 

[squeakyballs]

Oh dammit, I was searching around and realized there is a difference between Neosporin (which is fine) and Neosporin + Pain Relief. God dammit, I poisoned the little guy.

 

[peterlund]

Quote:
I would have kept my mistake to myself for obvious reasons...

, but it adds valuable information to all of us... Good luck with the rest of your flock. It is always a bummer to have to admit a teeny wee little never to be repeated mistake...
AND.. I didn't know that the pain relief was poisonous to chickens, so in a weird way..."thank you"

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Oh I wouldn't be so fast!!!

You don't know if that is what killed him.

Read this thread carefully if you want:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=3251573

ETA: I'm just talking to the OP here, not anyone who is also responding to the thread- I don't want him or her to blame him/her self unneccessarily!

 

[franklinchickens]

One of our EE hens, Mimi, at about 17 weeks seemed a bit lethargic for a few days, then one of her eyes started drooping. It was about halfway shut and would slowly open and close to half-mast. We had also noticed her panting but it was also 95 degrees outside so all of the chickens were panting on and off. Of course it was a Saturday morning and we hadn't yet needed a chicken vet. We ended up finding a fantastic one (Dr. Jennifer Hatcher at Rock-N-Country in Middle TN) who stayed open late for us to get there. Turns out she had a serious upper respiratory infection. I felt awful but being a new chicken owner, I really couldn't tell. Apparently she was thin and had a bunch of drainage. To be honest, even when she showed me I didn't really see what she was talking about.
Long story short, we left her there for 3 days and they gave her antibiotics. She's perfectly fine now. The vet said that it is really hard to tell when they are ill because they don't want to show weakness. We do pay closer attention now to any odd behavior and I also pay attention to what BYC members say about illness so I can at least be more aware.
She did send me to Tractor Supply to get a powder antibiotic to put in the water of all the chickens - no one else got sick, thank goodness.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

I have found dead chicks from a hatchery as late as 3 weeks old, dead from no known cause. Nothing contagious, no one else has any problems. You will need to check your other chickens to see if they are exhibiting symptoms of illness.

If they are not, then you will need to decide if you think it is a respiratory illness. Do you have other chickens around that are older that could have made them sick through contamination? Did you add someone to the flock from another flock? Did you recently visit someone's chickens?

Are your chicks from a hatchery or from another farm?

If they are from a hatchery and you have no other source of respiratory infections, then it may just be nature's way of culling imperfections. I always say to myself when I lose a chick for no reason that they must have had something wrong.

If you think it could be contagious because you have other sources of infection around or they came from someplace possibly infected, then you might be wise to treat with antibiotics. But medications are hard on chickens and shouldn't be done unnecessarily. Only you know what you saw.

I don't know what to tell you.