Eye Infection

[Tumada]

I will post pictures tomorrow so you can see what I'm working with. My roster "tiny" about 6 months old, had an eye infection of some kind. Not sure the cause, but his right eye is ****, and oozing a thick white, sort of milky, discharge. If left alone or does dry hard. It does not look like pus but it could be. This is now day 5 and my bird is quarantined for his and the other birds safety (other birds will attack tiny if they get a chance). I have only been cleaning the eye using water and Q-tips. My local poultry/pet store suggested I use VETRX, but I don't feel like that is the right medicine to use (or to only use). I need to know how to properly car for the eye and what I should be doing, at a bare minimum, now. My roster is eating but I don't know if he's drinking, out hour much, and he is walking around. Please help!!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I will post pictures tomorrow so you can see what I'm working with. My roster "tiny" about 6 months old, had an eye infection of some kind. Not sure the cause, but his right eye is ****, and oozing a thick white, sort of milky, discharge. If left alone or does dry hard. It does not look like pus but it could be. This is now day 5 and my bird is quarantined for his and the other birds safety (other birds will attack tiny if they get a chance). I have only been cleaning the eye using water and Q-tips. My local poultry/pet store suggested I use VETRX, but I don't feel like that is the right medicine to use (or to only use). I need to know how to properly car for the eye and what I should be doing, at a bare minimum, now. My roster is eating but I don't know if he's drinking, out hour much, and he is walking around. Please help!!

Welcome to BYC

There can be many causes of eye infections, from respiratory illness, a scratch/peck to the eye or debris entering the eye.

Pictures will be helpful, but usually a white, thick discharge would indicate pus/infection. Flush the eye with saline and use your qtip to clear the eye of any discharge you see. Apply some Vetericyn eye gel or Terramycin eye ointment to the eye.

Make sure he is drinking well, you can add some poultry vitamins to his water. Offer him some extra protein like egg, tuna, mackerel or meat in addition to his normal feed.

Keep us posted.

 

[Tumada]

Thank you for the advice. I can't tell you how surprised I am at how hard it is to find pure saline, not even Walmart carries it. I opted for purified water as a substitute. Eye is clean and my roster is eating and drinking. Hopefully tomorrow I can pick up the eye ointment from our pet store.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Thank you for the advice. I can't tell you how surprised I am at how hard it is to find pure saline, not even Walmart carries it. I opted for purified water as a substitute. Eye is clean and my roster is eating and drinking. Hopefully tomorrow I can pick up the eye ointment from our pet store.

Glad to hear he is eating/drinking

The purified water should be ok. If you ever have to find saline for flushing the eyes look for sterile saline for contact lenses.

Hopefully with the flushing and applying ointment he will make a full recovery. Keep us posted.

 

[Tumada]

So I picked up Terramycin and applied it to my roosters eye. I found it easiest to lay a thin layer along the opening of the eye and let it seep in as opposed to physically opening the eye and smearing it in...I know tiny appreciated it. He's drinking and I gave him some tunafish, though I don't think he cares much for it, prefers the cats good in the adjacent dish. Here is a close-up of his eye, let me know what you think.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

So I picked up Terramycin and applied it to my roosters eye. I found it easiest to lay a thin layer along the opening of the eye and let it seep in as opposed to physically opening the eye and smearing it in...I know tiny appreciated it. He's drinking and I gave him some tunafish, though I don't think he cares much for it, prefers the cats good in the adjacent dish. Here is a close-up of his eye, let me know what you think.

Poor fella.

It does look swollen. Keep the discharge/pus cleared and the Terramycin applied. If you don't see any improvement in a few days, then you may need to give him further treatment with antibiotics. If it is respiratory related you can try Tylan50. It's best to see if it will clear up on it's own first.

If he doesn't like the tuna and will eat a little cat food, then you can add a small amount of that to his normal feed. I've found that chickens will readily eat there feed when they think something tasty is mixed in

 

[Tumada]

I'm back. My poor roster! He will not eat or drink. The only thing he will eat at all is hard cat food, so as he's eating I secretly add water & crumble to the mix. His mane is beginning to thin-out & all he wants to do is sleep.. What should I do? We are still applying VETRX and Terramycin. How do I go about keeping him hydrated? Thanks

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I'm back. My poor roster! He will not eat or drink. The only thing he will eat at all is hard cat food, so as he's eating I secretly add water & crumble to the mix. His mane is beginning to thin-out & all he wants to do is sleep.. What should I do? We are still applying VETRX and Terramycin. How do I go about keeping him hydrated? Thanks

I am assuming the eye and discharge is no better. Since he is declining (not eating/drinking), then you may need to treat with antibiotics. You can try giving Tylan50 or Oxytetracycline to see if he improves (continue to clean out eye and apply ointment as well). Try to get as much water and crumbles into him as you can. You may need to start tube feeding. Dehydration will make all the symptoms worse.

Here's some info on tube feeding: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/805728/go-team-tube-feeding

 

[Tumada]

Thank you. I offered some yogurt and he was more than obliged to nibble a bit, and he will drink if I squirt water along his breek line. I think the discharge is decreasing but has migrated to the other eye; which I have started applying medicine to as well. Tomorrow I'll pick up some antibiotics and see if that improves things a bit. All things considered, he still has enough energy to try and bite my toes so all hope is not lost.

 

[Tumada]

One of my other concerns is his comfort. He stays outside in a co-op all night, with temperature outside in the low 70's, should I be concerned with him catching a chill/cold? Do you suggest I bring him inside?