Chicken has eyes closed, has some kind of film over her eyes, and now keeps scratching her ear lobe

[moniqueL]

I think she may have a vitamin A Deficiency. It can cause crusting of the eyes, & deterioration of the retinas. It may also cause a bird to be off balance in some cases.

It can lead to malnourishment in extreme cases, & fatigue.

She is not off balance. Today, I let her loose and she was pecking around and seemed to have more energy. She ate well. Then she is back to sleep. I got her pink eye antibiotics, we’ll see what happens, and I’ll check for vitamin A food that I can give her. But she still does not want to drink, so she eats lots of watermelon.
[

 

[MysteryChicken]

She is not off balance. Today, I let her loose and she was pecking around and seemed to have more energy. She ate well. Then she is back to sleep. I got her pink eye antibiotics, we’ll see what happens, and I’ll check for vitamin A food that I can give her. But she still does not want to drink, so she eats lots of watermelon.
[

Grapes are loaded with Vitamin A, 1 cup has 92 units.

 

[moniqueL]

It is hard to know if she was pecked in the eye because of bullying, or if she has a disease, such as conjunctivitis (pinkeye.) She may have a catatract already. Is the other eye clear? I would be doing what you are already doing. Does she have any sneezing or congestion? Is her crop emptying normally overnight? If you should lose her, I would contact the state poultry lab for a necropsy, just to rule out something contagious.

Started the red eye antibiotics yesterday afternoon. Am letting her free range around the house, she does move around for a while, pecking and eating (one hour I would say), she eats, but will not drink, so I am still giving her watermelon which she seems to enjoy. She is back to sleep now. My other 7 chickens are doing fine, I got 5 eggs altogether 4 this morning, this is quite exciting for me as it is my first experience. these chicken are so friendly.

 

[Eggcessive]

My chickens love watermelon this time of year as well. We scoop out the middle and leave an inch or two of the pink for them.

 

[moniqueL]

Started the red eye antibiotics yesterday afternoon. Am letting her free range around the house, she does move around for a while, pecking and eating (one hour I would say), she eats, but will not drink, so I am still giving her watermelon which she seems to enjoy. She is back to sleep now. My other 7 chickens are doing fine, I got 5 eggs altogether 4 this morning, this is quite exciting for me as it is my first experience. these chicken are so friendly.

here is the update. Did the eye antibiotics for 9 days. She did seem to get better, her eyes shut not as often, but a partial film on her eyes still remained. she started to lay eggs on day 8. The other chickens came to visit her in the garage where we were keeping her. They seemed friendly with her. As she did not appear to have an infection, we decided to put her back in the coop. At first, she was bullied, but after a few days, her eyes appear normal, she was no longer keeping them shut, and no more bullying. Her eggs are the biggest: large, and she is the biggest chicken of the flock. So I guess the issue was her third eyelid got damaged somehow, maybe in transit, and I am glad I took care of her fed her and took the time for her.