Eye injury? What to do for my girl?

[Shannjacki]

We noticed our petite Black Autrolorp walking around with her right eye closed the other day. Yesterday she showed little interest in free ranging with the rest of the girls and slept by herself under a bush. She is eating and drinking and her feathers are healthy looking. The eye looks whitish, with no discharge or swelling, but I think it’s painful because she seems depressed (she is sleeping a lot, and moving a bit slow). The other eye is clear and healthy looking. We live in NJ and I see that eye worm is more common in the south, so I think it may be an eye injury. We do have one very aggressive Bard Rock that has been pecking at the others, in the face in particular. She has also been “purring” and “cooing”, which we thought was cute but now wonder if it’s a sigh of pain? Any advice? I have ordered terramycin and vetrx which is being delivered by tomorrow night. I have her separated in a dog crate, which she is NOT happy about.

 

[JustAChickenLoverOverHere]

Picture?

 

[Shannjacki]

Picture?

 

[JustAChickenLoverOverHere]

@Eggcessive @azygous

 

[RubelliteRose]

Have you tried flushing her eye out with a saline solution in case there is some debris in it?

 

[azygous]

As @RubelliteRose so wisely suggested, flush the eye thoroughly with a saline eye wash. Make your own by boiling a cup of water and adding a half teaspoon of salt (non-iodized) and a half teaspoon of baking soda. Let cool before using.

Then use Neosporin in the eye twice a day until it heals. If the symptoms worsen and the eyes swell up and get pus in them, you will need to treat with an oral antibiotic.

 

[Shannjacki]

Thank you, we will try that!

 

[Eggcessive]

Sometimes a swollen eye with gunky eye drainage can be a sign of a respiratory disease such as MG (mycoplasma.) Other times it can be from an injury or peck, or an infection from some type of debris getring into the eye. I would try to flush the eye and apply antibiotic ointment or drops twice a day. Respiratory disease can cause lethargy, head shaking, and noisy breathing from mucus in the airways. Tylosin powder mixed into the water is useful for MG, and is a ailable here:
https://www.jedds.com/shop/tylan-soluble-100-g/
Dosage is 1 tsp per gallon of water for 3-5 days.

 

[Myrshine]

This looks more like a mild strain of MG to me. That being said- Chronic Respiratory Disease (CRD), or most commonly known as Mycoplasma Gallisepticum (MG). MG is a bacterial infection of poultry, affecting all different species of birds. This disease is most commonly given from infected parents to the offspring, as the MG bacteria can be transmitted vertically into the eggs of developing embryos, making any chicks that hatch, always infected and sick with the bacteria. So please don’t ever breed from your sickly infected flock to sell or giveaway chicks/hens/roosters to anyone. You can freely choose to hatch for yourself, but you should not ever sell and or giveaway any extra roosters as you’ll just be giving someone else your flock’s disease, causing them a devastation. MG is a permanent lifelong chronic disease- meaning, that you can treat or have the symptoms go away, but whenever the bird gets stressed again, the symptoms will keep coming back or get worse. All birds (even recovered birds) remain lifetime long carriers of the MG bacteria, spreading and shedding it through their feces, feathers, dander, respiratory secretions and other bodily fluids. This is a serious permanent lifetime disease of poultry and is incurable, but treatable with antibiotics. Since MG is caused by a bacteria, antibiotics can help keep symptoms at bay until the symptoms resurface whenever birds become stressed again. Keep in mind that over-use and/or misuse of antibiotics also creates antibiotic-resistant bacteria, making the disease harder to treat than before. It’s critical in any livestock animal, especially poultry, to get any sick or symptomatic birds tested to find out which specific disease they have as soon as possible. That being said, most choose to cull all birds, disinfect and start over fresh. If you’d rather not, then the other option is to keep a closed flock- no new birds into your flock and no birds leave your sick flock. If you choose to start over, always quarantine any new birds that you decide to bring into your flock, 30 day quarantine isn’t always enough, therefore, it’s best to do a 60 day quarantine AWAY from your healthy birds, in another area.



Here's more information about MG:

• https://extension.umd.edu/sites/ext... Mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG) Infecti....pdf

• https://www.freedomrangerhatchery.com/blog/protecting-your-flock-what-you-need-to-know-about-mg-ms/

• https://afarmgirlinthemaking.com/respiratory-conditions-poultry-mycoplasma-in-chickens/

• https://www.maine.gov/dacf/ahw/animal_health/documents/backyardpoultry/Mycoplasma Factsheet.pdf

• https://www.oie.int/doc/ged/D9107.PDF

List of testing and necropsy labs for poultry & other animals:

• List of US Poultry Labs - https://www.heritageacresmarket.com/poultry-necropsy-labs/

• List of Poultry Authorized Labs (NIPIP) - https://www.poultryimprovement.org/documents/AuthorizedLaboratories.pdf

• Zoologix PCR testing for livestock (poultry, equine, bovine, avian, etc) - http://www.zoologix.com/avian/index.htm

• USDA Diagnostic Tests - https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ou..._Lab_Information_Services/SA_Diagnostic_Tests

• Research Associates Lab (RAL) - http://www.vetdna.com/test-type/avian-bird

• Poultry Health Services Diagnostic Tests - https://www.poultryhealthservices.com/lab/tests/

 

[Shannjacki]

So far little improvement in her eye or demeanor. She is opening it more, but scratching at it more too. I am treating it with antibiotic as suggested and hope to see improvement. I am still holding out hope it is an injury and not MG as suggested, but she does have a lot of the symptoms. She is low-man on the totem pole so her behavior could be just an attempt at being 'still' so she doesn't get harassed. If she does have MG, I am sure the rest of my small backyard flock of six do as well. No worries on breeding or giving her away (they are pets) or adding more. We would only start with chicks again once my girls have all passed from old age (hopefully). In the meantime we are adding another feeder/more treat stations to try to alleviate the bullying from our boss mama Bard Rock.