Chicks with "Swollen eyes"

[chicken catcher]

I noticed recently that 1 of my 5 weeks old sasso chicks had a swollen left eye. I quarantined it, and the eye became watery before it completely closed up. It couldn't ear or drink. I had to manually feed it and give it water. After 3 days it died. Another chick developed the same symptoms, and later died as well. Please help me identify the disease, its causes and treatment before I lose my flock.

 

[Eggcessive]

If it was caused by a respiratory disease and not pecking, it could have been caused by mycoplasma gallisepticum or MG. That is a chronic respiratory disease that comes from a carrier of MG or passed through the hatching egg of a carrier. It can occur 6-10 days after exposure, or may show up in baby chicks around 2-3 weeks. It can cause a swollen eyelid or face, bubbles or foam in an eye, conjunctivitis (pinkeye,) and sinus infection. Most state vets will do a necropsy on a chicken that dies, and can identify the disease. Sorry for your loss. Certain antibiotics such as Tylosin, doxycycline, Denagard, and some others can treat symptoms, but never cure the disease totally. Here is a bit of info about MG:
https://extension.umd.edu/sites/ext... Mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG) Infecti....pdf

 

[chicken catcher]

Thank you so much Eggcessive for this information. May I ask you if this disease is curable?

 

[Eggcessive]

MG is never cured—it is a chronic respiratory disease. Symptoms may go away with antibiotics or by itself, but the disease is still there. It may affect other organs, and chickens may not produce eggs or be as healthy as they could be. It may not ever show up again, or she could have an outbreak of symptoms later. It can be common in some backyard flocks and in wild birds. To get confirmation that you are seeing MG, you would need to get testing, since there are at least 8 different respiratory diseases caused by separate bacteria, viruses, and fungi.