Help - Feathers around eye missing

[Linda Fath]

Just noticed on my 9 week old Easter Egger that she is bare around one of her eyes. Her eyeball itself is fine. Her other eye seems okay and the rest of the flock seem ok. Anybody know what this could be? Is it contagious? Should I remove her from the flock? Any known treatments? She seems plenty healthy otherwise.

 

[Judy]

She might simply have scratched them off, maybe because of gnats or mosquitoes, she could have slightly ijured herself, some of the others could have pulled the feathers -- and I'm sure there are possibilities I haven't thought of. You should probably check the flock for lice/mites, just in case. Otherwise, I think I'd just keep an eye on it. If she shows some sign of infectiono (redness, swelling) you could put just a dab of brand name Neosporin ointment around the eye, or use veterinary ophthalmic antibiotic ointment, usually available at feed stores.

http://ohioline.osu.edu/vme-fact/0018.html