Eye Problem

[reagansymone]

Hello!

I work at an animal shelter in between a suburban and rural area. We've been getting more and more chickens in lately, and today we got one in with something wrong with its eye. She's a bantam (I think either an old english bantam or a dutch bantam). We don't know how old. Her right eye is normal but her left is squinty and cloudy. Possibly an old injury? Eye infection? Both? She does blink it and there is an eyeball present.
Our vet is going to look at her tomorrow but our vet is not a chicken vet by any means. We have books to research, of course, but hoping that maybe you guys can give us a starting point!

If we got in a cat with an eye that looked like this, we would probably do a stain to see if there was an ulcer, maybe a tear test to determine dryness, and probably start on ocular antibiotics and lubricant depending on what we found. Buuuuut...this is not a cat

Thanks in advance!!!

 

[chickendreams24]

Looks like maybe a Dutch bantam but I'm not very familiar with that breed. Not a pure oegb with the white ear lobes.

She's pretty poor baby.

Idk what your vet would suggest but looks like old scar tissue to me.

I'd be interested to know what the vet says. Generally on byc from my experience and reading I think I would treat with terramycin opthalmic ointment. Just in case it's not scar tissue or to see if it can improve. Like used for a cat or kitten with an eye infection.

I'm sure someone else will come and weigh in too. And I'd love to hear what they have to say too.

 

[chickendreams24]

You could also try to do a sterile saline rinse of the eye just to be sure it's not dryness or something stuck to the eye. Of course be careful bc she won't like it and may struggle. It will also be hard to keep here eye open.

 

[chickendreams24]

Also does her eyelid open more than that? If her eye seems gunky at all I would probably take a warm wet cloth and try to wash it open very very gently again like washing a kitten's eyes out that are infected.

I'm guessing eye injury.