Eyes sealed shut!!!

[emzee]

One of the silkie roosters had both of his eyes sealed shut this morning when I went to the chicken coop. I carefully pulled them open so he could see and then got him to eat and drink. For the past few days he has been spending all his time huddled in the corner of the coop. Should I separate him from the other chickens? Some of the other silkies have had an eye virus, but this looks different. The other silkies have goo oozing out of their eyes, but his eyes seem pretty dry. Here are some pictures of his eyes:

 

[RM44]

I am by no means an expert, but I am currently going through this myself, and unfortunately for me, it's looking like MG (can't spell the scientific name, but it's some sort of Mycroplasma?). Anyway, questions:

- What state do you live in? I'm in Georgia, and the department of agriculture here in GA is really chicken-oriented and has been a huge help to me.
- have you recently added any chickens to the flock? That's how I got it. I had 6 that I raised for 5 months. Traded 2 out (because they were roosters) and got sick ones from the jerk who traded me. Now my whole flock is sick.
- how long have you had your birds?
- anybody else with chickens around you? (some of this stuff going around is extremely contageous and you can spread it through neighbor birds, or by going to visit a farm with chickens that are infected and bringing it home on your shoes/clothes/etc.

My chickens developed a rattley cough, and snotty nose that lasted for about a week. Then some of them developed foamy bubbles in their eyes. Those are the ones who's eyes eventually sealed shut. I could pry them open, and applied antibiotic ointment to the lids for a while, but the chickens wouldn't open their eyes on their own. Eventually they became disinterested in eating and drinking and just stood in a corner, tucking their head around towards their back/wings.

For me, the antibiotic "erythromycin" helped for the first few days, but then the symptoms sort of died off and came back. After 10 days I switched to terramycin and it didn't help at all. They were on the 2nd antibiotic for about 10 days, and then I took them off. About a week later my first one died. 3 days later it's looking like I"m going to lose another one any day.

I sure hope you get your problem figured out. Contact your department of agriculture to see if they offer any help for you.

Good luck.

 

[chicknmania]

You need to get the whole flock on an antibiotic, they are all sick if they have an eye problem, and silkies especially aren't very hardy. If nothing else at least go to your local feed store and get some Duramycin powder; mix it in the water, one tbsp per gallon. It won't hurt them but you can't eat the eggs while they are on the meds or for about two to three weeks after. For they eyes, you can buy terramycin eye gel which works best, or also in a pinch you can use neosporin. Wash the eye first with saline or human eye wash, then carefully coat the closed eye and/ or around it, with the gel. This works best at night before they go to bed, but you should put it on twice a day. Lots of things can cause eye infections, so don't panic yet. But don't waste any time, either, start them on antibiotics today, right now You can order stronger antibiotics and also get advice from the Chicken Doctor at www.firststatevetsupply.com. Chickens conceal a lot of ill symptoms until they are very sick, so they may be sicker than you think and you need to act quickly. Also, disinfect their water, feeders and everything else you can. Oxine works best, it is wonderful stuff, but failing that, use bleach.

 

[chicknmania]

Forgot to say, don't pry the eyes open. The wash and antibiotic will take care of the eyes opening eventually, they will open in a day or so, and you can damage the eye or contaminate it further if you're not careful. There are lots of very contagious chicken diseases that can wipe out your flock. Don't waste any time!

 

[MontanaMomma]

I'm not sure if this will help, but I just wanted to share what your problem made me think of. Years ago I had a kitten that appeared to have some sort of respitory infection. His eyes would cake shut, his nose was boogery and he would have fits similar to asthma attacks. A guy travelling through told me I should take a spray bottle of hydrogen peroxide and mist his face with it as often as possible throughout the day. So each time I peeked in the box with the kittens in it, I would mist the whole litter, and I would take him out and mist his face too. Not only did it cure his breathing problems, but cleared up his eyes, and all kittens had clean faces, eyes and ears. I wonder if this would help your chickens at all?

 

[zowieyellowflame]

Quote:
What is Oxine?

 

[emzee]

RM44,

That sounds EXACTLY like what I've been experiencing in my flock!(except for the cough) I also live in Georgia, but I never thought to call the Department of Agriculture. Yes, I have recently added chickens to my flock and out of the four that are sick right now, two of them are the new ones, so I think they carried it to my flock. But I think the guy that we bought them from honestly didn't know that they were sick, because they were fine for about a month after we bought them. No one else that lives close to us owns chickens and I haven't been in anyone else's chicken coop recently. I actually took two of my birds to the vet of here, and she said that it looked like either a bacterial or a viral infection in the eyes and gave me Batril for the bacterial infection. She said if it was viral, then there was no cure for it and I would need to cull the sick one. I haven't had the heart to do that yet however. We have only lost one so far to this, but just like you, I think we're getting ready to lose another one.

chicknmania,

I tried the Duramyacin powder already and it didn't really do anything. However, I think I will try doing some neosprorin and saline in their eyes. Thanks for telling me that I shouldn't pry the eyes open! I would'nt want to damage their eyes.

Montana momma,

I really don't know if that will work as chickens and cats are very different, but if all else fails I may give it a shot.

Thanks to everyone for all the advice!

 

[High Roost Ranch]

That doesn't look like Mycoplasma gallisepticum to me, that is usually associated with bubbles coming from the corner of the eye. Just out of curiosity, are you using a bedding that has a lot of dust or fine particles in it? That could be the cause for the matted eyes.

 

[chicknmania]

Quote:
What is Oxine?

Oxine is an extremely powerful disinfectant that is normally used in commercial agriculture operations. Our flock had ILT several years ago, and we used oxine to disinfect the premises, mist the birds, and even put some n their water. It is awesome especially on premises where it is difficult to disinfect thoroughly, like ours was. It is ten times stronger than bleach, and doesn't have the odor associated with bleach. ,
On the bottle it will tell you to use a fogger but you don't have to, you can mix it with water and put it in a spray bottle. It is more expensive than bleach, but a little goes a long way, especially for a small flock.

 

[shay20]

Quote:
What is Oxine?

Oxine is an extremely powerful disinfectant that is normally used in commercial agriculture operations. Our flock had ILT several years ago, and we used oxine to disinfect the premises, mist the birds, and even put some n their water. It is awesome especially on premises where it is difficult to disinfect thoroughly, like ours was. It is ten times stronger than bleach, and doesn't have the odor associated with bleach. ,
On the bottle it will tell you to use a fogger but you don't have to, you can mix it with water and put it in a spray bottle. It is more expensive than bleach, but a little goes a long way, especially for a small flock.

Put it in there water? is that safe for them to drink?

I am asking becouse i am too haveing a bit of issues the past week with my flock as well.