Chicken blind in one eye

[azygous]

That's remarkable! I just love it when a patient responds so well! It has made my day!

Tylan 50 is an injectible. But we give it orally to chickens since injecting it is corrosive to tissues. You will need a needle syringe to extract the dose, but then you twist off the needle and use the syringe orally.

 

[irsmun]

So its been about 36 hours since removal. This is what the eye looks like before a flush and before application of the salve. She is definitely acting better. She seems to be eating better too. I need her to put on weight as I feel for that week with the infection, she lost a good bit by not eating much.

There is still some swelling but I'm fairly certain I injured her on my first attempt.

 

[Jobarco]

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.

Did your chicken recover from the eye infection? A week and a half ago I noticed the very same thing you saw, it just looked like white or yellow where the eyeball should’ve been. I was for sure someone had pecked her eye out. I found an avian vet an hour and 15 minutes away and they got me in there the next morning. The vet said it was definitely an eye infection and she flushed it first and picked out most of the infection. She said she had to leave a little bit because it was attached really hard to the eyeball. I was not there when she did it, they took her in the back room and she said she should have used anesthesia because it was definitely painful. She ended up giving me a tiny tube of prescription gel and a tiny bottle of drops that she said would help with the inflammation and swelling . She was going to prescribe Tylan for the antibiotic but I told her I had the powder kind that goes in the water and she said that was fine to use. She is eating and drinking so I was able to use that. She said to keep separated for two weeks. Two days ago, after a whole week of treating twice a day as she said her right eye is now closed and very swollen. It takes my husband and I both to put in the gel and the drops morning and night. I can’t afford to take her back to the vet, it was almost $200 and like I said over an hour away. I’m wondering if I should try to get some saline and just rinse both out after the m da run out. I am seeing something that looks like pus in there still. I cannot afford another $200 plus an hour drive to take her back.

 

[Aunt Angus]

Did your chicken recover from the eye infection? A week and a half ago I noticed the very same thing you saw, it just looked like white or yellow where the eyeball should’ve been. I was for sure someone had pecked her eye out. I found an avian vet an hour and 15 minutes away and they got me in there the next morning. The vet said it was definitely an eye infection and she flushed it first and picked out most of the infection. She said she had to leave a little bit because it was attached really hard to the eyeball. I was not there when she did it, they took her in the back room and she said she should have used anesthesia because it was definitely painful. She ended up giving me a tiny tube of prescription gel and a tiny bottle of drops that she said would help with the inflammation and swelling . She was going to prescribe Tylan for the antibiotic but I told her I had the powder kind that goes in the water and she said that was fine to use. She is eating and drinking so I was able to use that. She said to keep separated for two weeks. Two days ago, after a whole week of treating twice a day as she said her right eye is now closed and very swollen. It takes my husband and I both to put in the gel and the drops morning and night. I can’t afford to take her back to the vet, it was almost $200 and like I said over an hour away. I’m wondering if I should try to get some saline and just rinse both out after the m da run out. I am seeing something that looks like pus in there still. I cannot afford another $200 plus an hour drive to take her back.

I am so sorry. You have done everything you are supposed to do for a sick bird (and then some). You can try to clean out the pus. The infection needs to come out in order for the eye to heal. The antibiotics may have helped loosen the pus. I'd also try another antibiotic, like Baytril or amoxicillin. Both can be acquired without prescription.

 

[irsmun]

My chicken's eye infection did heal. Once I removed the pus cap everything went smoothly. I rinsed with a saline solution and applied triple antibiotic ointment. Unfortunately her eye is permanently blind likely from my attempt at removal and not the infection. I have to chalk it up to learning. I would not consider taking my chicken to a vet. The cost does not justify the function of the animal. Its a fine line between an animal having a purpose and being a pet. I guarantee I could probably pull it off without injury next time. Unfortunately she was my test case. That being said, she is doing fine with one eye.

In order to make it easy to put medicine in the eye you simply need to wrap her up in a towel with her head out one end and her legs out the other. She will be completely incapcitated and easy to handle. Use your fingers to firmly grab her beak to control her head while you administer. I found that she got used to the application and after a couple of times she submitted quickly and easily.