Closed red, swollen eye

[sariea]

I'm concerned about my Buffy. I've searched and read other threads about eye problems but still wanted to post just to make sure I take care of her properly. A few days ago I noticed she was walking around with one eye closed. She'll open it occasionally but usually closes it again a few seconds later. It seems to not be so bad in the morning but as the day goes on she keeps it closed. I'm not sure if I should just let her be and wait for it to take care of itself or not.

She's about 13-14 months old. I don't think another chicken pecked her because she's the top of the pecking order. She may have scratched it on something since she's the most adventurous hen we have and our girls like to scratch around in the dirt behind my husbands cucumber garden and also in some brush behind our house. She's eating and drinking (and laying) just fine.

The last picture is the furthest she'll let me open her eye. Sometimes the skin around her eye is red and sometimes it's pale. It's pretty watery today.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

[chickengeorgeto]

I'm concerned about my Buffy. I've searched and read other threads about eye problems but still wanted to post just to make sure I take care of her properly. A few days ago I noticed she was walking around with one eye closed. She'll open it occasionally but usually closes it again a few seconds later. It seems to not be so bad in the morning but as the day goes on she keeps it closed. I'm not sure if I should just let her be and wait for it to take care of itself or not.

She's about 13-14 months old. I don't think another chicken pecked her because she's the top of the pecking order. She may have scratched it on something since she's the most adventurous hen we have and our girls like to scratch around in the dirt behind my husbands cucumber garden and also in some brush behind our house. She's eating and drinking (and laying) just fine.

The last picture is the furthest she'll let me open her eye. Sometimes the skin around her eye is red and sometimes it's pale. It's pretty watery today.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

My suggestion is to Google "Eye Worm" and then proceed from there.

 

[sariea]

My suggestion is to Google "Eye Worm" and then proceed from there.

oh dear god that's disgusting. I hope that's not what it is but I will see what I can do...

 

[jcooper3]

She probably just scratched it on something. Eyeworm is spread by cockroaches, so if your coop is roach free I wouldn't worry about that. It is much more likely that she got something in her eye and is has a slight injury. Just watch it for thickened discharge, crusting, swelling, or eyeball displacement.

 

[jcooper3]

And now that I look more closely at the little red bump, I think it could possibly be an ant bite.

 

[sariea]

She probably just scratched it on something. Eyeworm is spread by cockroaches, so if your coop is roach free I wouldn't worry about that. It is much more likely that she got something in her eye and is has a slight injury. Just watch it for thickened discharge, crusting, swelling, or eyeball displacement.

I think you're probably right and that it's a scratch... I haven't ever seen any cockroaches in the coop or run. That being said, I did apply some VetRx to her and hope I didn't hurt her more.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

I think you're probably right and that it's a scratch... I haven't ever seen any cockroaches in the coop or run. That being said, I did apply some VetRx to her and hope I didn't hurt her more.

I have heard that some of the pour on livestock de-worming medicines work on eye-worms.

I also see that you are in New York state. That is not prime eye-worm territory but I always assume that everything is possible.

The rest of you looking for answers should do like sariea did and include your general area in your information profile.

 

[sariea]

Well she has gotten a lot worse. Her eye is very swollen now and since last night she has not been moving much.
It's been in the high 90s here for the last couple weeks so I have her separated, in our 75 degree basement, to see if it helps since I know she's not been drinking enough water (she'll try but misses the waterer bc she has no depth perception)

We gave her some scrambled eggs this morning, which she ate a little of right away. I was looking online and everywhere I see mentioned respiratory illness so we got some Duramycin and I have been trying to make her drink that since I've noticed she's breathing heavy and I can hear it when sitting a few feet away. She has eaten a few of her feed pellets, and she's not pooping much (and when she does it's all white and very little). She's spending most of her time laying in one spot with both eyes closed and only gets "energetic" when I try to look at her eye or open her beak for water.

I don't know if there's anything else I can do at this point, but please let me know if you all know of something. She's my favorite hen and the most friendly of our 6 and it would break my heart to lose her...

 

[ChickenChaser9]

Well she has gotten a lot worse. Her eye is very swollen now and since last night she has not been moving much.
It's been in the high 90s here for the last couple weeks so I have her separated, in our 75 degree basement, to see if it helps since I know she's not been drinking enough water (she'll try but misses the waterer bc she has no depth perception)

We gave her some scrambled eggs this morning, which she ate a little of right away. I was looking online and everywhere I see mentioned respiratory illness so we got some Duramycin and I have been trying to make her drink that since I've noticed she's breathing heavy and I can hear it when sitting a few feet away. She has eaten a few of her feed pellets, and she's not pooping much (and when she does it's all white and very little). She's spending most of her time laying in one spot with both eyes closed and only gets "energetic" when I try to look at her eye or open her beak for water.

I don't know if there's anything else I can do at this point, but please let me know if you all know of something. She's my favorite hen and the most friendly of our 6 and it would break my heart to lose her...

Try letting her drink from a dish instead and she might be better able to get water that way. I wish I had something more to give you advice wise but she isn't going to make it if she cant get water. Obviously your using some sort of dropper and that might be best if she is that lethargic. If you spend the time and energy to keep her fed and hydrated a solution is likely to present itself. If you don't give up on her she wont give up on you. Taking her to a Vet is likely the best thing to do for her.

 

[lovemy6hens]

How is Buffy? Did you figure out what happened?

One of our buff orpingtons, Mrs. Pickles, has the same problem right now.

Mrs. Pickles has a sister named Buffy!