Eye infection or something else?

[nicolevg]

I posted a couple weeks ago of our new baby chick whose eye seemed to have difficulty opening fully after hatching. Per the recommendations, I gently used a q-tip and some warm water to help loosen the crusty stuff that seemed to be keeping his eye shut. It took probably a week of me doing that several times a day before the eye not only stayed open fully and didn't keep on getting crusted over, but also till he was able to see out of it and use it properly.

However, though his eye itself now seems to be fine (I can see the whole eye including the color), it now seems like the area around the eye and down that whole side of his body is infected with something. The area around the eye is darker/blacker and the feathers don't grow the same there as they do on the other side of the body. There's also a streak of this discoloration and sparce plumage that runs all the way from his eye area/head down his neck to his wing and back. Any idea what this could be or what could be causing this?

I should also note that he is the smallest of the chicks and possibly the runt of the flock / bottom of the pecking order, though he's also the fastest and definitely can put up a fight when the baby hens peck at him; he'll peck right back. He was our free chick from Murray McMurray. We think he's a sultan, and the rest of his sisters are all RIR's, so much larger birds than he is at just 2 weeks old.

 

[Smileybans]

The eye looks like it had been pecked at. There’s a triangular shape to the top of it. I would try cleaning the wound out with a sterile saline solution or an antiseptic. The discoloration on his chick fuzz could be blood. Does it wash off or is it also on his skin?

 

[nicolevg]

The eye looks like it had been pecked at. There’s a triangular shape to the top of it. I would try cleaning the wound out with a sterile saline solution or an antiseptic. The discoloration on his chick fuzz could be blood. Does it wash off or is it also on his skin?

His skin is pinkish underneath. I didn't see any discolorations on his chick fuzz. My hands were sweaty when I was holding him (hot day) for those photos, so maybe that caused some discoloration in the photos.

I have some blue anti-peck spray that I've used on my hens in the past. Perhaps I'll dab a bit of that around his eye. I see what you're saying about the triangular spot. Because of his history with his eye, he hates me touching or dabbing that area. I think that triangular part is a scab because it doesn't come off or clean off with washing.

I haven't noticed any additional pecking spots in the past several days, so perhaps the girls have laid off him for me.