Help! One of my hens has a swollen eye. What do I do?

[638858]

Coryza.. You need to pop that stone out from behind her eyelids, above and below, it helps to use a warm wet rag and hold it on the eye for a little bit first, it will be round on one side and flat on the other side (think a split pea) it will slide out easy when loosened up a bit, it’s in the pocket above and below the eyes, it may take several attempts to get it all out.. she will not like it, but it must be done.. cradle her tightly under your arm and up against your body and work the stone around with your finger tips, kinda like popping a pimple, but it’s gonna be a solid chunk and 2-3 smaller pieces, it is only removable when the swelling is at its peak like your latest pictures.. the eyelids will be fine afterwards although it will look really bad a day or 2..

 

[AngelinaThePekin8]

FYI. Unless you use an antibiotic in the eye, the infection could cause blindness. Terramycin is what you need.

Be sure to get any drainage off the eyelids and out of the eye with a warm wet compress and flushing her eye with saline. Terramycin eye ointment is very good, from a feed store, or I sometimes use a clean tube of plain Neosporin or Triple Antibiotic Ointment twice a day. Get the ointment into the eye, just a dab. I would get the chicken wire cleaned up. She looks like she was picked on or injured.

I will see if we can get some terramycin today. If we can't get any soon what could be in place of it till we can?

 

[AngelinaThePekin8]

I did a warm compress, she moved her head a lot it was hard to keep it near her eye for More than a few seconds but what I was able to do seemed to have softened the blood up a little. It looks like there is less fluid in her eye today, after I did the warm compress some of the puss came out and that was about it after I cleaned that bit of puss up I tried to get more out but nothing seemed to have come out. I tried getting her to eat but she didn't seem to care about food, I am going to go offer her some wet food here in a bit and see if she will eat it that way, she also doesn't seem interested in water, it is cold again today so I think that doesn't help any when it comes to getting them to eat.

That whitish spot on her eyelid is her skin, how do you put the terramycin on her eye I looked it up and I read that you just put some on a Q tip and put it on their eye but I want to make sure I do everything correctly. Her crop is/was (she could have eaten or drank since I last checked) empty, hopefully I can get her to eat and drink.
She pooped too and I got a picture of it.
When I was cleaning her eye, I could slightly hear her breathing she sounded (congested?) As well as she had some clear runny drainage that was a little bubbly (I assume because of her breathing) in her left nostril it wasn't very much though. She is still acting normal as normal can be when you can't see half of your body. She is still looking around but is cautious when walking as to not run into something. She went into the coop after I let her out of the breezeway (which is where I cleaned her eye)
Should I put some more vetrx on her comb and waddles ect.?

 

[azygous]

The ointment goes into a corner of the eye. Use the tips of your fingers to very gently close the eye lid to disperse the ointment. Triple anitbiotic ointment can be used in lieu of terramycin, but the latter is better.

 

[638858]

I did a warm compress, she moved her head a lot it was hard to keep it near her eye for More than a few seconds but what I was able to do seemed to have softened the blood up a little. It looks like there is less fluid in her eye today, after I did the warm compress some of the puss came out and that was about it after I cleaned that bit of puss up I tried to get more out but nothing seemed to have come out. I tried getting her to eat but she didn't seem to care about food, I am going to go offer her some wet food here in a bit and see if she will eat it that way, she also doesn't seem interested in water, it is cold again today so I think that doesn't help any when it comes to getting them to eat.View attachment 3061578
View attachment 3061583View attachment 3061584
That whitish spot on her eyelid is her skin, how do you put the terramycin on her eye I looked it up and I read that you just put some on a Q tip and put it on their eye but I want to make sure I do everything correctly. Her crop is/was (she could have eaten or drank since I last checked) empty, hopefully I can get her to eat and drink.
She pooped too and I got a picture of it.
When I was cleaning her eye, I could slightly hear her breathing she sounded (congested?) As well as she had some clear runny drainage that was a little bubbly (I assume because of her breathing) in her left nostril it wasn't very much though. She is still acting normal as normal can be when you can't see half of your body. She is still looking around but is cautious when walking as to not run into something. She went into the coop after I let her out of the breezeway (which is where I cleaned her eye)
Should I put some more vetrx on her comb and waddles ect.?

Put a couple drops of VetRx in her mouth and on her beak/nostrils.. have you tried to get the solids out from inside her eyelids?

 

[AngelinaThePekin8]

Put a couple drops of VetRx in her mouth and on her beak/nostrils.. have you tried to get the solids out from inside her eyelids?

Thank you!
No, I have not as I am not sure if I need to do that or not yet at least it sounded like I need to cut her eyelid and I don't want to do something like that unless I know it is needed and that it is the right course of treatment. Do I have to make sure I get her eyelids to open? And do you have any tips on how to get her to hold her head still while I clean her eye up and things like that, when I pick her up and hold her she holds still better but eventually she struggles and tries hopping out of my arms. And should I be worried about the weather being cold? Should I separate her at all? She doesn't get picked on from what I have been able to see.
I have this strong animals chicken elixir stuff that we got recently to help get a old hen with a reproductive issue get better but she passed away, anyways do you think it would be a good idea to put it in the chickens water and see if it will help her breath a little better? I can post photos of the ingredients and the bottle if needed. I also have nutridrench.

 

[AngelinaThePekin8]

The ointment goes into a corner of the eye. Use the tips of your fingers to very gently close the eye lid to disperse the ointment. Triple anitbiotic ointment can be used in lieu of terramycin, but the latter is better.

Okay, thank you! I think we will be able to get some terramycin today or if not possibly tomorrow.

 

[Aunt Angus]

Treating eyes is no fun. You have to be firm with them and force them to hold still. I really think you need to get that eye cleaned out, and the only way to really do that is to get it open.

Do you gave someone who can hold her while you treat her?

I know from experience that it's awful because you are afraid to hurt her. But if you can't get the infection out and the medicine in, it will be much worse later.

You are doing a good job! Just take it that one step further.

 

[Eggcessive]

The Neosporin or Triple Antibiotic Ointment is much cheaper, and many have that in their medicine cabinets. Do you have a label of the elixir that you used, with the name and dosage? To hold your chicken you can place a towel on your lap, and hold her like a football. With any eye problem it would help to have another pair of hands. But I would hold her head with the same hand of the arm I was holding her. Open the eye with a thumb and forefinger or pull the lower lid down and apply a small dab to the lower eyelid. It will warm up and melt into and spread over the eye. Here is a graphic video of expressing pus from around a swollen eye:

 

[AngelinaThePekin8]

Treating eyes is no fun. You have to be firm with them and force them to hold still. I really think you need to get that eye cleaned out, and the only way to really do that is to get it open.

Do you gave someone who can hold her while you treat her?

I know from experience that it's awful because you are afraid to hurt her. But if you can't get the infection out and the medicine in, it will be much worse later.

You are doing a good job! Just take it that one step further.

Thank you!
I can have one of my siblings help hold her.