So I got chicks this spring from TSC. One of them always had one eye that was watery and occasionally crusty where the drainage dried. I used warm compresses to clean the eye, but he has never had any other symptoms. Being a neonatal nurse, I assumed it might be a birth defect to do the the tear duct. He is now around 8 months old and is one of my top roosters. His eye is still a bit watery at times. Recently, I had a sneaky broody hen hide a nest and she hatched out 5 healthy babies, which some of them I suspect are his offspring since she was one of his hens. One of the babies eyes are watery and I plan to use warm compresses on them. No other symptoms of illness. I had never planned to breed him for fear that if it was a congenital defect it would be passed along. Just wondering if anyone else has seen something like this? Should I treat differently?
It could be congenital like you mentioned, hereditary, or an early injury to the eye. It could even be a sensitivity to the bedding material (think chicken allergies). It's hard to say. I think your treatment method was good and obviously worked. I use Neosporin or Terramycin (more severe cases) on any eye issues in my flock. It's amazing what can be passed from parents to offspring in poultry, so a few options would be to not hatch any more eggs from hens you know he breeds with. All of his offspring can be carriers. More drastic measures would be to put down your rooster or any offspring that hatch with the watery eyes. If the watery eyes isn't an issue and their quality of life is great, I wouldn't worry too much about it. It sounds like these are pets and not breeding stock.
