Easter Egger is Sick!

[HappyBoks]

Hi all! A few days ago we found our easter egger, Clucker, in the coop with a massively swollen eye. When we first found her this way she was otherwise fine, she ate and walked around like normal. We've been giving her antibiotics for her eye, as we were thinking it was probably due to another chicken pecking her eye and as such her getting an infection (in fact for over a week now we've had to seperate the flock as two of our five chickens were pecking poor Clucker close to death, they are all fine now though). Now however she seems much worse. Her eye is still swollen, though less red, and her left leg is showing weakness, so much so that she can't sit normally on the coop and prefers to stand around listlessly than walk. Her appetite has also decreased a lot, although she's not the only one with a decreased appetite. We think our chickens may also have worms. Please help!

 

[azygous]

Have you given this hen a thorough examination? Check from head to toe for anything that appears to be infection, including inside the mouth and ears, and legs and feet. Look for crusty yellowish lesions in mouth and ears, or black scabs on bottoms of feet and any sign of scales lifting up and away from the legs and feet. Examine the crop tonight and again in the morning for fullness.

A photo of the eye would be helpful so we can see for ourselves what it looks like. Can you see if the eye itself has a pink film over it? Or is it an opaue white film? Is the swelling around the eye hard or soft and spongy? And what leads you to believe the chickens have worms?

 

[HappyBoks]

I'll send pictures as soon as I'm home. Last night we kept her inside for an hour or two and she started eating a lot before finally going back to roost. The eye itself looks fine underneath the swollen lid, the only thing is that there is a little bit of clear liquid. As for the worms, another one of our chickens, Belle, is rather lethargic and looks ruffled. Her comb is a pale pink (so is the sick easter egger's) and when I try to feed her she only takes a few pecks before giving up. She's also been having terrible diarrhea that is a greenish yellow and sticking (so much so that we had to cut off the pasted feathers from her bum). Belle also has never laid an egg, and she was born around March of this year.

 

[azygous]

You could take a stool sample to a vet and have them test it for worms. That way you would not only confirm worms, but you would know the species so you can choose the right wormer. I just did this recently for a chicken in my flock, and even though my vet doesn't see chickens, they were able to test the poop for just $20.

 

[HappyBoks]

After getting a fecal sample the vet found that our chickens don't have worms. I'm a little concerned now because if they don't have worms then I'm not sure what it is they have and am afraid they may be suffering from some sort of virus or other disease.

 

[azygous]

I understand your concern and frustration. As long as I've had chickens, there are still cases where I haven't got a clue as to what could be making a hen sick, although there's never a question that they are very sick.

What I do in cases like that, and I suggest this to you, also, is to start the sick hens on an oral antibiotic. I keep penicillin and amoxicillin and Tylan 50 on hand so I have it handy to start treating when needed.

Do you happen to have any such antibiotics on hand, perhaps a leftover prescription someone in the family didn't completely use up? Or you could try the feed store and pick up injectible penicillin or Tylan 50.

You can also get antibiotics here. https://pet-healthcare.revivalanimal.com/search?p=Q&ts=custom&w=fish antibiotics These are for fish but they work fine for poultry, too.

By the way, did you do a thorough exam on these hens as I suggested? And you were going to try to get a photo of that swollen eye for us.