Hen won't open one eye

[BubblesFlockMama85]

I have a hen that is walking around with one eye closed all the time and the other closed most of the time. There isn't any drainage or puffiness. I have separated her from the rest of my flock. She will not eat her food, except for lettuce. She only drinks water if I put her beak in it. It has been 4 days and none of my other girls are showing symptoms of any kind. She is a little puffed up. There are no signs of breathing difficulty.

I'm at a loss. I have new chick's coming in 3 weeks and I do not want them to get sick as well.

Any ideas?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Do you have photos of her?
How old is she?

Try flushing the eyes with saline, look and see if there's any debris or pus in the eyes.
Is her crop emptying overnight? I would work on hydrating her, then offer wet feed to see if that interests her.
It's very hard to know what's going on with her.

 

[BubblesFlockMama85]

I did not see any debris or anything that looks amiss. Her crop has been empty for days. It wasn't even full on Sunday. I did get some molasses water in her but only a tiny bit. I know she's dehydrated but I am not having any luck getting it in her mouth. She also has electrolyte water. It's a quart size and she has only drank enough to have it go down about an inch.

 

[BubblesFlockMama85]

Update: she seems to have a little bit of watery eye. It is not crusty though. One eye is a little swollen. Now I have another chicken with diarrhea. Not sure what to do now. I don't even know which chicken it is.

Any thoughts anyone?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

You can try flushing the eye with saline and apply an eye ointment in the eye (like Terramycin).
Work on hydration if she's not been drinking. Syringe or Tube fluids into her. (links below) She may benefit from electrolytes for a day if she's not been drinking.
Photos of the hen and eyes may be helpful.

Photos of loose poop? Anyone else acting off?

What's the ventilation like in your housing, is it shut tight for winter?

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...dications-to-all-poultry-and-waterfowl.73335/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/crop-feeding.75454/

 

[BubblesFlockMama85]

I have put Terramycin on her eyes twice now. Last night and this morning. She is actually opening them now. Still not eating or drinking though. I'm going to get a syringe and tube to try to get some water in. Even with her beak in the water, she still won't drink.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I would put food/water in the cage with her.
How old is she? When did she last lay an egg?

Any chance that she ate moldy feed?
Taking a sample of poop for testing of Coccidiosis and worms will help rule out those 2 things.

How long have you had her?

 

[BubblesFlockMama85]

She has food and water in her little home. I have had her since she was 2 days old. She is now 20 weeks. She has not laid yet. I check their feed daily as we do have rain and snow blowing sideways. I have not seen anything moldy yet. I did find some fibers outside in the run. Not sure what they originated off. Maybe an old sweater or something. The fibers are really course. I'm wondering if she ate some of it.

I did get her to drink some water last night. I'm about to go try some more. She had about 2 T of water maybe 3. She was walking aroung and then went right back to the corner she likes to lay in. This morning, after I turned the light on, she was walking around some more and stretching. Looks like she might have had a couple pieces of lettuce. I gave her some boon worms this morning to see if she would eat those. I will update after I get back from checking on her.

 

[BubblesFlockMama85]

Update: She did drink almost a quarter cup of water. Most of it, by herself. Still will not eat though. I've got to get some food in her though.

I'm kind of wondering about a leukemia or something. I had another bird die 3 weeks ago. The vet suspected gapeworm so we have been on a deworming cycle. She did not make it though. However, she had a hard time breathing. She never had any evidence of worms in her fecal matter. This one does not.

 

[MrsChicngoat]

How’s your hen?