Eye injury - antibiotics??

[kathy32]

We found one of my hens this evening unwell. She was in a nesting box at bedtime obviously unwell. She appears to have an injury to one eye and is also presenting as sick - droopy, not wanting to eat, etc. I have antibiotic eye ointment which my daughter applied. She said it looks like the eyeball itself got injured. There are no external injuries. Based on how ill she looks I suspect that maybe it has been injured for a day or two and an infection has spread? Maybe? She was not acting sick yesterday or this morning that I saw but i havent been paying attention to her eye. Is there anything else I should do? There are no longer any vets near me treating chickens. It's not possible to buy oral antibiotics without a prescription, is it? I will reapply the vetromycin (hopefully this was okay to put on it!) 3x daily if she continues to survive. Thanks in advance for any advice. She is 2 years old and a California White I believe.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

We found one of my hens this evening unwell. She was in a nesting box at bedtime obviously unwell. She appears to have an injury to one eye and is also presenting as sick - droopy, not wanting to eat, etc. I have antibiotic eye ointment which my daughter applied. She said it looks like the eyeball itself got injured. There are no external injuries. Based on how ill she looks I suspect that maybe it has been injured for a day or two and an infection has spread? Maybe? She was not acting sick yesterday or this morning that I saw but i havent been paying attention to her eye. Is there anything else I should do? There are no longer any vets near me treating chickens. It's not possible to buy oral antibiotics without a prescription, is it? I will reapply the vetromycin (hopefully this was okay to put on it!) 3x daily if she continues to survive. Thanks in advance for any advice. She is 2 years old and a California White I believe.

Do you have photos of her injuries?

What is the antibiotic eye ointment? It's fine to use Vetericyn to clean the eye.

She's been pecked, is she new?

If not, then there's a reason why she was likely suddenly attacked or pecked. When was her last egg? Check to see if she's prolapsed or has any other injuries. Make sure her crop is emptying overnight.

It's a good idea to get her hydrated if she's lethargic, sugar water or electrolytes would be good to give.

 

[kathy32]

Thanks for the reply. I don't have a photo but I can try to get one in the morning.
Sorry, I was rushing and confused the name of the ointment. It's Vetropolycin opthalmic ointment. She is not new and does not have any other injuries or things as far as I can tell. She lays regularly including yesterday I think.
I will see if I can get her some sugar water.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Thanks for the reply. I don't have a photo but I can try to get one in the morning.
Sorry, I was rushing and confused the name of the ointment. It's Vetropolycin opthalmic ointment. She is not new and does not have any other injuries or things as far as I can tell. She lays regularly including yesterday I think.
I will see if I can get her some sugar water.

Yes, the ointment should be fine.

She did lay an egg today correct? If not, then I'd be concerned some of her lethargy is from trying to expel an egg. If that's the case, then getting extra Calcium into her is a very good idea.

 

[kathy32]

Here she is this morning. She's drinking pedialyte and I just brought her some egg to try. She is moving around. Unfortunately the way her comb flops her good eye is covered. My daughter softened everything with a warm wet washcloth this morning and applied more antibiotic. I can't really get a picture with her eye open because I need both hands, but it looks like a chunk of eye is gone.

 

[Eggcessive]

Keep up the ointment 2-3 times a day after flushing the eye. Vetropolycin is the same as Neosporin, and fine to use. Hopefully, her eye is not blind, but she can still do okay with sight in one eye.

 

[kathy32]

Thank you!