Help - Chicken with puffy skin around eye [pics]

[aprmiller]

Hi All,
We just got back from vacation last Saturday and I noticed that one of our rock barred had puffy skin around her eye. Doesn't appear to have any discharge, puss, or bubbling and she is acting completely normal. I thought maybe she just got pecked (they were restricted to the coop while were gone), but I haven't seen any of our other chickens doing anything to her. It hasn't improved over the last week so wondering if anyone has any advice or if I should wait to see if it improves. (I'm very new to chickens.) Also, none of my other 8 chickens have anything like this going on.

This chicken is about 8 weeks old and we moved them out to the coop about 2.5 weeks ago. Below are some pictures for reference.

Puffy eye:

Normal eye on same chicken:

Front view of chicken:

 

[aprmiller]

After searching through some other posts, maybe early coryza infection? I saw someone posted a link for Baytril... I'll give that a try. Just seems odd she's been like that for almost a week and no change either direction.
https://allbirdproducts.com/products/baytril-10#how-to-use

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Doesn't appear to have any discharge, puss, or bubbling and she is acting completely normal.

Is there a bad odor?
Can you look inside her beak and inside her ear for any infection?

Infectious Coryza is a respiratory disease that presents with a bad smelling thick mucous and discharge from the eyes, facial swelling, wheezing, difficulty breathing, etc.

You report no discharge, no pus, no respiratory symptoms and she's acting normal, so I would say it's not Infectious Coryza unless she starts to show more symptoms. If she's been like this for a week and still isn't presenting with additional symptoms, then likely she won't.

If she's acting fine, active, eating/drinking, then I would not treat prophylactically with an antibiotic. Look her over for any bugs, especially in the ears and on the head. Look inside her beak for lesions or mucous.
If you don't find anything obvious as the cause, observe for a while longer and see if it resolves on it's own.

After searching through some other posts, maybe early coryza infection? I saw someone posted a link for Baytril... I'll give that a try. Just seems odd she's been like that for almost a week and no change either direction.
https://allbirdproducts.com/products/baytril-10#how-to-use

 

[aprmiller]

Is there a bad odor?
Can you look inside her beak and inside her ear for any infection?

Infectious Coryza is a respiratory disease that presents with a bad smelling thick mucous and discharge from the eyes, facial swelling, wheezing, difficulty breathing, etc.

You report no discharge, no pus, no respiratory symptoms and she's acting normal, so I would say it's not Infectious Coryza unless she starts to show more symptoms. If she's been like this for a week and still isn't presenting with additional symptoms, then likely she won't.

If she's acting fine, active, eating/drinking, then I would not treat prophylactically with an antibiotic. Look her over for any bugs, especially in the ears and on the head. Look inside her beak for lesions or mucous.
If you don't find anything obvious as the cause, observe for a while longer and see if it resolves on it's own.

Hi! Thanks for the reply. No bad odor or crust/pus still and her symptoms have stayed about the same - acting normal and no respiratory symptoms. I have not administered any drugs yet, but purchased some in case her condition worsens....

I have had trouble getting ahold of her to check her ear and beak more thoroughly, but I will keep trying. The puffiness seems about the same, maybe has gone down a bit. I will continue to keep an eye on her! Thanks again for your help.

 

[Duckduckchicken32]

Could her Harderian gland be infected? It is located right under the eye. The photo is from the book chicken health for dummies. It is part of the immune system, so maybe her body is fighting something?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Easiest way to catch them is when they are roosting at night. Try that, less chasing about for the both of you.

 

[HollowOfWisps]

If she has no other symptoms I wonder if she got bit by a fly near her eye. The flies are "activated" by the heat outside so they are everywhere and they are drawn to the salt in eyes often biting. A fly bite will swell especially around the eye.

 

[allison_waring]

Hi, We have a barred rock with the same eyelid swelling. Wondering if this cleared up on its own or if you ended up using any treatments?

 

[aprmiller]

Hi, We have a barred rock with the same eyelid swelling. Wondering if this cleared up on its own or if you ended up using any treatments?

It did clear up on it's own in a few weeks, no treatments.