Cockerel can’t raise his head

[azygous]

If you can find prednisone eye drops, that would work wonders on the swelling. But you have to know some old people who've had recent cataract surgery and have the drops left over or convince a vet to prescribe them.

 

[karenls50]

I might be able to get them from the avian vet who treated him (who didn’t find the wood chip).

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Is there a way to inspect the eye again?

Swaddle him in a towel so his wings and legs are fairly secure, leave his head where you can get to him. Lay him on a table, then working with warm saline compresses, saline to flush and a good light, work the eye open and see it there's a splinter or more pine shaving debris that needs to be pulled out.
Go slow, give him breaks if he's stressed, etc.

I've seen where people have pulled Fox Tails, seed pods, pieces of a feather, etc. out of eyes, once all the material has been removed, the eye heals very quickly, so if he's still having drainage and swelling, I would suspect some small piece of debris is still in there.

I agree, you did nothing wrong by taking him out to the ladies. Sounds like he was doing well, just perhaps overexerted himself a little.
I still think visiting is a good idea, it adds some interest to their day, and it also sounds like the hens were all happy to be together - that's a bonus right there no matter how things go.

 

[karenls50]

My husband wants to call the vet and tell her that the day after we were in there for her to look at his eye he pulled a 1/4” piece of wood chip out of his eye. That he thinks there is still something in there and we’d like to bring him in again to see what else is still in there. We hope she’d do the follow up at no charge.

I’ll let you know what she’s says. $150 the first time and she didn’t see a huge piece of wood that my husband found and removed all by himself with no assistant. . If she won’t see him without a charge we’ll have to try ourselves. How do you flush the eye without running water down his nostril?

He did well last night. Seems strong this morning.

 

[azygous]

Lay him on his side and flush the eye so the solution runs off toward the other eye. Don't worry too much about him aspirating as the nares are a connected tunnel and the solution will just run out the other one.

Good luck shaming the vet into seeing him without charge. If nothing else, it will let you know if they are more interested in animal welfare than the god Money.

 

[karenls50]

Lay him on his side and flush the eye so the solution runs off toward the other eye. Don't worry too much about him aspirating as the nares are a connected tunnel and the solution will just run out the other one.

Good luck shaming the vet into seeing him without charge. If nothing else, it will let you know if they are more interested in animal welfare than the god Money.

We went ahead and made another appointment with the head vet tomorrow morning. I did get a call from the vet who worked in his eye last week and it almost seemed like she didn’t believe me that we got a piece of wood out. She said maybe he got it in there after she looked in his eye. I said he’s been in the basement on a cement floor on a piece of plastic and there are no wood chips anywhere. I said the only time he has seen wood chips was yesterday for an hour when he was with his hens, and that was a week after she saw him.

She is not in till next Thursday so we set up an appointment with her supervisor vet. She said that this vet is really good, so I’m not really sure what her capacity is but I’m not happy. I told her I didn’t think we should have to pay again for some thing that should’ve been found the first time and she said that will be up to the other vet what she does as far as payment. We might try today to look, but we might wait til morning. She did say they might have to sedate him to get a better look. I think that’s a good idea because I don’t want him having a heart attack because of the trauma. So that’s where we are today. He’s walking around he’s eating he’s pooping he virtually looks normal except for an eye that is swollen shut and when we open it, there’s a clear gelatinous liquidy water in there . It’s not healing after eight days. Thanks for all your care.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I hope the visit goes well tomorrow.
Please do let us know how it goes.

I'm glad to see you report he's walking around and eating.

 

[karenls50]

Went to the vet again. A different vet this time. The senior person. They sedated him and examined his eye. She came back and said there was no more debris in the eye, the infection seemed to be gone but that his cornea had been perforated and she doubted he would ever restore his vision in that eye.

We made it clear that the first vet totally missed the wood chip and we were very disappointed that this could have been averted if she would have been more careful in her examination. They pretty much blew that theory off and said it could have been perforated before that visit.

We held our anger at their incompetence. They are a regional “avian and exotic specialists!” My husband saw the wood chip the day AFTER we were in there last time and pulled it out!

They said he had gained 1.3 pounds since last week. The first vet never weighed him. She never left the room with him. The new vet didn’t know how she weighed him.

This vet said he could still breed once the infection is gone and the eye heals over. That’s what we bought him for.

We have so much invested in vet bills for this cockerel, but we’ve always had the mindset that when you get an animal you assume responsibility for its well being. They wanted to do X-rays and blood tests to the tune of $430 and we said no. The bill for the office visit today, the sedation, the exam, and the med refills was $261. They want us to bring him back in two weeks.

But right now he’s eating a lot! Pooping a lot! And wants to get out of his indoor coop and outside with his hens.

I told the vet that I think his wry neck wasn’t true wry neck because he did not hold his neck sideways or stargaze. I told her that I think the eye swelling so badly put pressure on his tiny brain and caused temporary neurological problems that made him dizzy and flip over. She nodded her head yes. . The proof is that as soon as the antibiotics started working and the infection and swelling went down, he hadn’t had an episode. He preens his chest and under his wings and is not tipsy in any way.

Please pray with us that maybe his eye sight comes back,at least partially, and the infection is finally gone! But we just want him to gain his weight and strength back. And we need him to be able to breed the hens. Then we’ll hope and pray for some male chicks to hatch this spring.

You guys have been a lifeline through this trying time. Thank you so much! I’ll keep you posted.

 

[azygous]

Are you in California by any chance? In the silicon valley country? Vets there have been cleaning up charging outrageous fees to people who have enthusiastically embraced backyard chickens.

Happy he's doing better in spite of the poor vet treatment.

 

[karenls50]

Are you in California by any chance? In the silicon valley country? Vets there have been cleaning up charging outrageous fees to people who have enthusiastically embraced backyard chickens.

Happy he's doing better in spite of the poor vet treatment.

Nope. Midwest. Thank you.