Goopy, crusty chicken eye

[JessicaEm]

I don't know what happened to my chicken's eye. She was attacked by some kind of predator, but I think her eye was starting to goop up just before that. The attack only took a bunch of feathers; she didn't seem to lose any skin in the attack. At any rate, the eye has gotten progressively worse. My husband isn't sure she actually has an eyeball in there. What can I do? Is there anything I can do?

 

[Eggcessive]

She might have had eyeworm or an infection and scratched her eye out. First you need to do a warm compress to the eye to clean it off and get a look in there. I would put some neosporin ointment in it, and get her started on antibiotics. Oxytetracycline, sulfadimethoxine, Gallimycin, and Sulmet would work. If you suspect eyeworm or can see any tiny worm or cloudy gunk in there, you can treat with a wormer such as valbazen in a little mineral oil and apply to the eye. Eyeworm is rare, so you might want to search the web for different treatments.

 

[Eggcessive]

This also may be a respiratory infection such as coryza or MG. Coryza tends to make their heads smell bad. Here is a link for diseases to check out: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044