Chicken blind in one eye

[Aunt Angus]

Also mine doesn't look anything like the ones I see on video. Her eye is not near that swollen and my is more like a cover than a large mass that you can pull out. I don't know how far under there her eye is.

I've seen posts where the eye is completely white, but I can't find them now. I see what you mean, though. I wouldn't want to continue, either. It might be under the cornea. Yucky. I'd be concerned the infection would spread.

My little one's eye was hugely swollen. Like, just massive. But her eye was completely white. Even though the treatment killed the infection, she lost use of her eye. I hope it improves.

Lemme rag some folks who might offer better suggestions.

@azygous
@Eggcessive
@Wyorp Rock

 

[azygous]

I've watched a chicken eye go blind. It occurred very quickly over just a few hours. The eye began as a cloudy film that gradually turned completely white. The hen was sick overall, and had conjunctivitis. I flushed it and used terramycin but the eye went blind so quickly, I wasn't able to help her.

If there's pus in the eye, it can fool you into believing the eye has gone blind when it's really just buried under a thick layer of pus. The pus must be removed in order to save the eye because it contains bacteria and that can't be allowed to remain.

To remove the pus, you need to glove up, be sure you don't have long sharp nails that can harm the eye, and then exert slight pressure on the tissue surrounding the eye, pushing the pus toward the edge of the eye where it can be wiped away with a soft cloth soaked in saline eye wash. Once all the pus is expressed and removed, flush again with proper eye saline wash and then use terramycin antibiotic eye ointment in the eye twice a day.

Contact lens solution is not formulated to be used as an eye wash. Reserve it for that use only, and buy some eye wash.

 

[irsmun]

I saw several "apply pressure" videos. It did not work like that with her. It doesn't look like a wad of pus. It looks like its her eye that has turned white (see picture) or at the very least has a cap of pus over it. I did remove something. I have no way of knowing if I was supposed to or not. After I sensed I was hurting her, I stopped. I'd like to get something more accurate as to what is happening. I can get more and better pictures tomorrow. If its blind, fine, I'll leave it alone. But if I need to do something I'd like to find out. I don't want to leave her with an infection as I figure that will eventually lead to her demise.

 

[irsmun]

Here are closer pics with me trying to expose different parts of her eye. The damage, or the missing area is from me trying to remove. I feel horrible about it. I don't know if I got part of her eye or that's part of the pus packet.

 

[Aunt Angus]

That really looks awful. Has it "loosened" any?

I really, really wish I had a solid answer for you.

 

[irsmun]

No, and I'm not touching it. I know it hurts her so until I have a definitive direction I will just apply antibiotic ointment and leave her alone. I need some solid direction.

 

[azygous]

In the last photo, the eye appears to be underneath the pus. The pus is full of bacteria, and unless it's removed, the eye is in danger of going blind.

To safely remove the pus from the eye, use cotton balls saturated with saline solution, and gently wipe the pus off of the eye. When you have wiped away all you can see, then you need to press gently on the tissue around the eye to express any remaining pus out from under the skin around the eye. Wipe this away with another saturated cotton ball.

Unless you do this, get rid of all the pus, the antibiotic ointment will do absolutely nothing to heal the eye. It will just keep growing bacteria and pus until the eye is ruined.

So, as they say when confronting a difficult task, gird your loins and just do it.

 

[irsmun]

So you don't think I damaged the eye? I swear I was being extra gentle but when I started seeing the black I thought I was getting into her eye.

I don't understand about wiping the pus off. It does not wipe off. It seems firmly attached. Is there something that could loosen it or do I just keep wiping? Also there seemed to be a film like membrane on top. Is that normal over the pus pocket? I was concerned it was her cornea. What tools should I have besides cotton balls? Tweezers? Forceps?

Pressing the area around the eye does not seem to push anything. I wish it did. That would make me feel confident that I'm in the right place. She has swelling but it is minimal compared to all the videos that showed the eye the size of a marble.

Also is there some sort of sedative I could give her? Whiskey? Anything. I am not squimish about it but I am sensitive to her pain. I think if she were somewhat sedated I would work better. Sorry for all the questions but after the last round I want to go in confident and get a one and done.

 

[azygous]

Anything other than cotton balls saturated in saline can damage the cornea, and that would cause much more pain than she's experiencing now.

I can't think of why the pus should be so tough to wipe away unless it developed a dry skin, sort of like cooked pudding gets. Try pulling the cotton ball into two pieces. Using one piece, stretch it out so it's flat. Then wet it in the saline and fold it in half. Grasping the folded cotton, use it as a "grabber" and try to pinch the surface of the pus with the folded cotton and try to lift it off, as you would if it was pudding you are lifting the skin from.

If this works, it would then expose softer pus underneath that might wipe away. If not, use the cotton to pinch and grab and lift off the remaining pus.

This shouldn't harm the eye as cotton should be soft and silky enough that it shouldn't scratch the cornea.

Another thing that might help pull the pus off the eye is to use lubricating eye drops and squirt it under the pus as you are lifting it from the eye. The lubrication of the eye underneath the pus, if you can get the eye drops in there, should make it easier for the pus to come off the eye.

I am guessing that your lack of confidence in performing this operation is causing you not to exert enough force to the pus to get it to detach from the eye. Try to reassure yourself that this is necessary and you aren't doing anything that will cause injury, and the small increase in pain this causes won't be more than your hen can handle. Chickens are very brave about enduring pain, I'm sure you've heard.

To make this easier on you and your hen, wrap her securely burrito style in a bath towel so her wings are confined. This will give both of you a sense of security and make the task go much easier.

 

[irsmun]

That's interesting that you said that there would be more pus under the pus. That is exactly what I experienced. When I lifted the top layer I saw another layer underneath. That makes me feel like I was doing ok. I had her wrapped in towel. I will need more hands when I do this. Someone to hold her beak as she tried to pull her head inside the towel. So I'm going for it tomorrow. I will get ahold of some saline solution. Hopefully walmart will be open on the 4th. Thank you for walking me through this.