Help!! Chicken with injured eye not eating or drinking.

[dragonfly chick]

After a full day of Internet searches for advice to take care of my injured 14 week red sex link, I decided to set up an account to ask you backyard chicken folks!! I have read lots of advice here and have decided that this is the best resource for a new chicken owner like me!

Now for my dilemma.... I live in a suburban area we decided this year that we wanted to raise chickens for many reasons. They have a coop and a run on the side of the house, but we let them run around the yard when we are outside. Yesterday the chickens were in the scrap yard when we heard one "screaming". When we found her she was bleeding out of her eyeball. I picked her up and cleaned it up and she sat on my lap for a few hours while my husband made a temp coop for her. We put food and water in there as well as a 5 gallon bucket with pine shavings and a little scratch on the ground ( it's on the grass). This morning when I came out she still hadnt come out of the bucket and was panting, so I took her out and put her beak in the water a few times until she took a little drink and she pecked a few crumbles of food out of my hand, but not nearly enough. She hasn't eaten since she got hurt last night.
Anyway, my questions are:
How long can she not eat like this before it becomes more serious, and how can I get her to eat?
When will she be able to go back into the coop with the other birds?
Will she be ok with only 1 eye?

Please, any advice will be appreciated! I feel so terrible. Thank you.

 

[Shabana]

I,m so sorry to hear about your hen.
I am by no means an expert but I did have a sablepoot with a pecked eye and feet.

I gave her Tylan which is an antibiotic in her water ( we cant get injectable stuff here in the UK)
and then I also put antibiotic drops into her eye and kept it very clean.
I wont lie it was a long haul with 3-4 good weeks of antibiotics and longer with the eye drops.

I kept her separated with her Roo who was also in the wars ( I rescued them together and they are somewhat of a little chicken love story ) for a good long while maybe 2-3 months.
6 months or more on she is blind in that eye but they are both back with their flock and both are very happy members.

While she was very ill I hand fed her which is quite intense over a long period, mainly her own food with added garlic and seaweed. I also gave her some scrambled egg and some fishy cat food periodically to up her protein levels.
Ive included a pic of her when she was at her worst.

Best wishes to you all xx

 

[Shabana]

...Also just to add, if you believe she is in pain I understand it is ok to give a very small amount of children's pain killer, so long as it doesn't end in CAIN or CAINE as this is VERY BAD for your hen.

With the water I used to dribble a drop onto her beak and then it would run into the tiny grooves in her beak and into her mouth.
With food in the beginning It was literally anything she might like, and then once she was eating I got her mostly back onto her proper food, as this contains her daily needs - plus too many treat type foods will probably give her diarrhoea.

Try to post a pick so that others might be able to give advice too xx

 

[dragonfly chick]

It is hard to get a good picture since she pretty much keeps it closed, but it looks like her eyeball was ruptured.

Thank you so much for the great advice!! Very helpful. I was wondering if I would still need to give antibiotics if there is no infection yet, or do I wait and see if an infection develops? I do have some infant Motrin here for my 2 year old so I will try that ASAP. Hopefully with less pain she will start eating soon. I will offer some treats as well. Thank you again for your help!!

 

[Shabana]

I would personally give antibiotics straight off to prevent any infection developing.
The eye drops can be a challenge but I found them to be really very good.
She will do just fine with one eye - my little sablepoot (called flipflop) maintains a high rank in the pecking order these days and is a very happy little chicken

Keep us posted with updates and very best wishes x

 

[Eggcessive]

Aspirin 80 mg (low dose or baby aspirin) is safe to give for pain twice a day, but I would not use Motrin or ibuprofen, acetominophen, or naproxen. Terramycin or Neosporin ointmant without pain medicine is very good for eye injuries or infections.

 

[coffeychicks]

I had a buff who was attacked by a dog. The dogs tooth ruptured her eye ball. We kept it clean. Separated her until she healed. ( I had little hope for her). She barely ate for 3 days I am guessing due to stress. But ended up healing just fine. She lived for about 2 years after that incident. Until another dog from same neighbor came in the yard and since she couldn't see well it got her. Yes they can survive but need extra protection.

 

[dragonfly chick]

Wow! So grateful for the stories and advice. Gives me a lot of hope.
I have since brought her inside in a tub since we have a little wind and thunderstorm coming. She has food and water available to her, but hasnt touched it since she got hurt.(2 days now) I have tried offering treats to no avail, so I blended a concoction in the baby bullet of bananna, corn, oats, plain yogurt, and a little water. I have been feeding an ounce or so of that from a syringe every couple hours. She seems to be getting some color back in her waddles. I just put some neosporin on as well!! (Thanks eggsessive). Coffeychicks, when your buff got hurt and didn't eat, what did you do for those 3 days? Can they go that long without eating/drinking?

 

[coffeychicks]

Sadly I was very new to chickens and before my byc days. I wet her food very soupie and would drop some in every few hours. I figured everytime I went out she would have been dead but she was a fighter and was dubbed as lady luck aka lucky. Then the 3rd day I go out she is eating like there was no tomorrow.

 

[dragonfly chick]

Hi!! Well, I just wanted to give an update on little Ginger. Accident happened on Sunday so this would be day 4. When I got up to check on her, she came out of her bucket on her own which is new! I picked up some of her food and she still wouldn't peck at it, so I gave her another ounce of her bananna/corn concoction then let her down to roam free on the grass and she is walking around slowly checking things out. Even pecking at stuff for the first time!!! I am excited. It's the first day she has shown some positive improvement!! Thanks again!