Chick eye swollen

[Payturpin]

Just noticed my 7 week old chick has a swollen/nasty looking eye. Is this an infection or possibly debris??

 

[coach723]

It looks like an injury of some kind, maybe got pecked or caught on fencing wire, hard to say. Is the other eye normal? Any sneezing, coughing, wheezing, or discharge from eyes, beak or nares? I would flush the eye out really well with sterile saline or eye wash. The area above the scab looking spot that looks kind of like a blister, that may contain pus. I would use some warm, wet compresses to try to loosen it up, remove any pus you can find. Chicken pus is firm, cheesy like, not liquid, and is usually creamy in color. Then either use some terramycin eye ointment (many feed stores or tractor supply stores carry it no prescription needed) or some plain neosporin can also be used in the eye 2 or 3 times a day. Are you in the US? Putting your general location in your profile is helpful in recommending products, and can make a difference in figuring out what it might be. It's also possible that it's a respiratory infection, some of those can cause facial or eye swelling. It's hard to know if the injury or peck came before the swelling, or after.

 

[Payturpin]

It looks like an injury of some kind, maybe got pecked or caught on fencing wire, hard to say. Is the other eye normal? Any sneezing, coughing, wheezing, or discharge from eyes, beak or nares? I would flush the eye out really well with sterile saline or eye wash. The area above the scab looking spot that looks kind of like a blister, that may contain pus. I would use some warm, wet compresses to try to loosen it up, remove any pus you can find. Chicken pus is firm, cheesy like, not liquid, and is usually creamy in color. Then either use some terramycin eye ointment (many feed stores or tractor supply stores carry it no prescription needed) or some plain neosporin can also be used in the eye 2 or 3 times a day. Are you in the US? Putting your general location in your profile is helpful in recommending products, and can make a difference in figuring out what it might be. It's also possible that it's a respiratory infection, some of those can cause facial or eye swelling. It's hard to know if the injury or peck came before the swelling, or after.

No signs of a respiratory issue (coughing, sneezing, discharge). It’s just watery and clearly sad looking. Yes, I’m in the US. Texas specifically

 

[coach723]

Then you should be able to find the ointment. Do as I suggested above and see if you get some improvement.

 

[Eggcessive]

If you see any more scabs, I would look at this being fowl pox virus. It can look different in every chicken. Fowl pox is a virus carried by mosquitoes, and it lasts several weeks, but there is no treatment. Don’t disturb scabs, but some do paint them with Betadine taking care not to get it in the eyes. I also would use the ointment that Coach recommended. If it is fowl pox you will probably see it in more chickens since it is spread by mosquitoes. Here is a good article to read with pictures:
https://the-chicken-chick.com/fowl-pox-prevention-treatmen/