Eye swollen shut

[EmilyJoTx]

About a week ago I had some younger chickens (about 8 wks) afflicted by some upper respiratory disease. Symptoms in the worst case were watery swollen eyes, sneezing and wheezing, lethargy and not eating. Not all the chickens came down with it, but I treated them all. They all seem to be over it, but the chicken that had it the worst still has an eye swollen shut. Every day I try my best to clean and open it, irrigate with saline, and apply Neosporin. The skin around the eye seems so thick I'm not sure if it will ever go back to normal. Is the eye a lost cause at this point? Is it better to keep messing with it or should I just leave it alone? I'm not so much worried about blindness, she's been getting by fine with her one good eye, but I'm concerned the eye will get infected.

 

[abraga]

R u putting Neosporin in the eye? It's not suitable for that. U may be making the irritation worse. Do any of ur birds look like they have little bumps, scabs, blisters or sores?

 

[EmilyJoTx]

I'm essentially putting the Neosporin on the lid, although it's near the eye. However, note that several posts suggest Neosporin on eyes here-that's why I did it.

 

[Eggcessive]

Can you post a picture of the eye? Is there pus inside? If so, clean the pus or any drainage and crust out of the eye, flush with saline, and try to find Terramycin Eye Ointment or Vetropolycin at a feed store to use in the eye. The latter is equal to Neosporin, but for eye use. For what it's worth, I have used plain topical Neosporin on a chicken's eye in an emergency, but if you can get eye drops or eye ointment, that is always best.