Hen with eye infection, bubbling in eye, can't open it, help?

[chicken_china_mom]

I've been battling infections in various birds' eyes for about 2 months now, since the weather first started to cool off, and this time I went out to feed the birds and I found one of my Bantam Cochin hens walking around with one eye shut completely. I got my younger DD to help me catch her so I could take a good look, and I found her eye bubbling and leaky, and she won't open it. It's been colder the last week or so, and it's only getting colder from here on out, so I don't know if the drop in temp is playing a part in it or not. What I want to know is, can I put Teramycin in her eye? I've been treating some kittens that have been getting icky eyes with it, and I was wondering if I could use it on my hen too. Is it safe? I know it doesn't have any numbing agent in it cause the kittens mewl like they are being killed when I put it in their eyes from the sting. I know it stings against sore, raw eyes, but it helps the kittens so much. Can I use it?

 

[davony's chicks]

I came on here tonight looking for an answer to the same question. I noticed the other day that one of my hens was walking around with a swollen closed eye, after close examination it was crusty. I soaked a wash cloth with warm water and washed kind of like my mom did when I was a kid and had a cold in my eye. I got it opened and I noticed today that it is closed and crusty again!
What can be done please help both of us.

 

[Hollywood Chickens]

I don't know about the medicine, but you could try coconut oil until someone who does know comments.

 

[rilly10]

Terramycin is great for eye problems! I would try to clean it human eye wash or sterile water and then use the Terramycin Opthalmic Ointment. Do they have other symptoms? Respiratory virus can sometimes be linked with eye issues.

 

[chicken_china_mom]

No, she's moving around fine, no nasal discharge, no coughing, nothing. I put her in a carrier in the dining room for tonight and she's resting. I didn't touch her eye just yet because I figure I'd wait to see if it is ok to use the Terramycin before I stressed her out. She's a friendly girl (all my Cochin girls are), but I haven't met a chicken yet that likes getting their eyes messed with. I'll take her out and clean her eye out now and then put the meds in. Thank you for letting me know it's ok to use it!

 

[Cochin378]

Wash out the eye with Saline solution and sanitize her cage. Nothing can grow in Saline solution. We have an amercuana pullet that has delt with the same thing.If she does not get better give her a shot of injectable Tylan. It could also be infectious corzya or eye worm but most likely it is an infection. I hope this helps. Cochin. If you have any more questions you can PM me.

 

[chicken_china_mom]

Ok, I cleaned her eye out and applied the meds, and then put her to bed. She is NOT happy with us right now, but I think she knew we were just trying to help her. I took my Netty pot, filled it with warm water (no saline though), and poured it into her eye until everything icky was flushed out. Then I patted her eye dry, opened it, and applied the Terramycin. It wasn't quite that simple of course, lol. Took two people to rinse her eye, and 3 to hold her down and apply the medicine. But it's in her eye now. I got a good look at it as I treated it, and man, her entire eye is swollen, clear up to the red brim around her eye. She's resting now, I'll apply more in the morning. I'm hoping that some of the swelling is down by then as I'd like to get her back outside as soon as possible. I really hope this isn't something super bad...

 

[davony's chicks]

I hope that works! She sounds like she is love.

I will go get the teramycin tomorrow. Mine has not been acting sick either. When I held her the other day washing her eye out and she is quite the hefty girl. Very stout and strong! LOL
I unfortunately can't bring her in so when I treat it tomorrow she will have to stay out.

good luck with your girl.

 

[Rodeoclown1189]

Hey girls I just wanted to let you know..... My name is Ethan and I am logged into my friend James' account and found this lol..... I am a pre vet major and I have some information for you all to use...... If you all use a sterile solution then that is wonderful and if you take bleach and reduce it so that the ratio is 1:10 then you can use this in the pen and on the shanks so that the feet are clean..... you have to have a very keen eye with using this cause you don't want to get it in their eyes. You can spray the chicken or any animal down with this solution so that it will kill the bacteria...... it is also a very good idea to use and anti-fungus wash on them before you use this solution. If you all are wanting them to have a steroid based antibiotic inside, then you can use Penicillin G Procaine or long acting and extract 1cc same as ml and inject it into their leg on the inside sub Q, which means parallel with the muscle tissue. The penicillin contains cocci and or bacilli, which is a gram-neg or gram pos susceptibility. Oh, and btw lol my user name is southerncomfort if you needed to reach me for anything...... I finally got my account up and running after my busy lifestyle hahaha I would love to hear from you all and just sit back and have some chicken talk..... Aka: my drug and obsession. Also use the reduction bleach solution to spray the pen down with. Take note that this reduction will not affect your hens, roosters, chickens, fowl etc... Also ya'll if yuns put summit in their drinking tanks, waterers etc. then this will also help with any kind of cocci....

 

[chicken_china_mom]

Quote:
Thank you so much for the information Ethan. By chance, do you know what could just cause random eye infections? This is actually the 4th bird I've had to treat, and I treated the others with Neosporin. I just happened to have some Terramycin on hand and I thought that maybe it would work better and faster. Could this be a fungus doing this? Like maybe wet pine shavings? Or just from walking around outside and scratching herself with dirty toes? She's the only one I've seen with the bubbling in the eye though. The other three all had a yellow or white discharge, kinda thick, like snot. None of the others seem to have lost any vision, and all have made full recoveries, though the one little roo that I was worried about, his eye still looks a little sunken to me, however he won't stand still long enough to let me have a good look.

Should I completely clean out the coop and spray it down with a bleach wash in the ratio you recommended? I'm not sure it will dry since it's already getting cold here, so maybe I should wait until spring? I was planning to power wash the inside of the coop once the weather warms up next year because I want to put down tile, so maybe that would be a good time?

I'm always up for chicken talk, and chicken talk with a pre vet major is even better, lol. Maybe you could tell me how to get more Terramycin for a chicken? Vets around here don't treat chickens.

Are you planning to include chickens in your vet practice? We're looking to move down to either Tn or Ky, and if you do, we might have to make you our vet if you treat chickens, lol! I don't know what half the meds are that people talk about on here. I've used Sulmet once when we had a mild cocci breakout, and I've used Duramycin on chicks, and...that's about it. I've treated wounds with primarily Neosporin, but I've also used a tea tree oil gel, peroxide (in small amounts), and iodine. I go old school to stop bleeding in birds, and I pack less severe wounds with flour. I raised parrots for years and flour saved the lives of many a bird, and it works well for chickens, especially after a dog attack. Maybe you could answer some questions I have, but I'll have to find your user name and shoot you a PM.

For now my little hen is sleeping soundly. I'm sure she's hurting, and I feel bad about that, she's so sweet. I can't even imagine the headache she must be sporting right now. Sometimes I really wish chickens could take pain relievers! Should I continue to flush her eye every time I'm ready to put in Terramycin? And how many times should I use it? I have very little left, so maybe if I can get the infection under control, I can switch over to Neosporin? I'm so tired of these eye infections. I suspect eye infections are why my one friend has like 20 chickens with either missing eyes, or leaky eyes and vision loss. I don't want to reach that point. If I can keep mine healthy, then I will. Thanks for the advice so far everyone. Now it's time to wait and see if it's working!