Hens eye missing.....have question about long term solution

[tmfineg]

Somehow our chicken lost an eye, I am thinking it got pecked by accident. I put some antibiotic ointment for a few days and left it alone. The eye became very swollen and infected. I am pretty sure it is because it is geting dirt and debris in the eye running around the coop and the yard. I have isolated the chicken in a pet carrier in the garage and am putting antibiotic ointment once per day. It is doing much better, swelling is down by half. Here is my question:

The eyelid still opens, as long as it opens I think it will get infected.. Will it eventually close up and not open anymore?

 

[86121]

I don't think it will since naturally eyelids are meant to remain open. Im afraid that unless the eye gets sown shut or something like that, it may stay open?

 

[SteveBaz]

You did good by isolation and that will keep dirt and debris out of eye. Just follow your plan and gut feelings. The eyelid is in shock and she has no control over the eye or eyelid. I would stay the course and keep her isolated and worst off would be in the coop. Let it heal feed it better foods while she is separated and in the house.

 

[kidcody]

Sorry to hear about your chickens eye. Regular antibiotic ointment can not be used in eyes. It is usually petrolatum based and that will and can cause secondary infection, swelling and irritation. You could put Terramycin eye ointment in your chickens eye and that should help with the eye infection (you can buy this at the feed store) you might also have to put your chicken on oral antibiotics (found at the feed store) if the infection is deeper in the tissues. Terramycin eye ointment works on the surface of the eye tissue not deeper tissue infections. Chickens do fine with one eye. The eye lid should close once the infection is cleared up, if there is no eye ball the chicken will keep the eye closed. I hope this helps and I hope your chicken gets better soon.

 

[My Lay D's]

This situation needs to be handled by a veterinarian. I can imagine your hen is in quite a lot of pain that needs to be dealt with professionally. We can treat a lot of things on our own with chickens but I dont think this is one of them. If you dont have the right antibiotics/ointments you could be doing her more damage and causing more pain. Take her in.

 

[Hyline]

Second My Lay D's post. Eyes are not to messed with - for a start that infection is real close to the brain. Second she must be in AGONY. Please take her to the vet as they will treat her appropriately and provide her with pain relief!

 

[berniezahm]

I have a Red Sexlink pullet/hen that had her left eye swell up big as an acorn. Eyeball wasted away swelling has started to go down, eye area almost normal now. She is blind in that eye now and has laid 4 to 6 eggs each week through the whole thing. No meds nor eye ointment and she is doing fine. Chickens are much better healers than most folks realize. Good Luck with your hen. Good luck finding a chicken vet also.

 

[tmfineg]

Thanks for all the advice. I had not thought of the petrolium jelly in antibiotic ointment, TSC is out of Terramycin, so I may go online ot see if anyone has it. I am pretty confident the chicken is not in pain right now. I have treated chickens for a few injurys, this chicken act totally fine, eating drinking and enjoying the extra treats she is getting. I will watch her closely for this though. The eye is much better this morning, the infection is almost gone. I will keep everyone posted.

 

[klmclain1]

I wonder if "cleaning" it periodically with sterile saline solution (like that used for contacts) will help keep the debris out. Anything greasy or oily is going to hang all to all that dirt. I'd flush it twice a day and dab it with gauze to dry. If you can get the antibiotics, I'd give those too. If you do suspect there's pain, you could dissolve an aspirin in water (I haven't done it, but I've seen it discussed here - just do a search for aspirin) and give it to her with a dropper. They're resilient critters!

 

[nhwahine]

Quote:

To tmfineg: I know this is a year later, but what ever happened to your one-eyed chick? Is she doing better? I ask, because I've been nursing my beautiful buff cochin because someone pecked her eyelid. I've had her in confinement, but at night she sleeps with her sister. This morning I find her with her eye missing. It's been pecked out.

I immediately cleaned the eye area and I didn't have any other ointment, so I used Neosporin around the eye area. I'll go down to TSC and look for Terramycin ointment.

I'm just wondering if I'll ever be able to put her back together with the others?