Hens with infected eyes- Please help

[tsbonin]

Three days ago my 4 yr old RIR had both eyes shut w/sticky puss like fluid. After a gentle saline rinse she could open eyes barely and they were red/irritated. Next morning they had shut again. Treating w/Neosporin and isolation. She is somewhat better but as of last night we found 5 other birds with symptoms in one or both eyes with some showing scratched areas around the waddles/face. No smells, no raspy breathing, no leaking from anything but eyes, some scratched and maybe a little swollen around head area. The other 30+ hens seem ok. A few did shake heads while on roost last night but not badly or anything that would normally cause concern. This is a 2-4 yr old flock. They are isolated from other farms/chickens. We just have no idea what is going on since we bleach our houses and keep fresh bedding and water/food sources. Please help us figure out what we need to do. Unfortunately we don't have a local vet that deals in chickens for our area and our searches are not finding any exact symptom match. Thank you!
Eating and drinking fine even the ill chickens. This is a heavy mosquito area with high rate of west nile virus.

 

[Eggcessive]

It seems that respiratory infections show up in the eyes pretty quick because the chickens sinuses are so close to their eyes. I haven't had this problem but I know that West Nile, MG, Infectious Bronchitis, and other poultry respiratoy diseases can present this way. I hope you get more responses to help you narrow down the disease.

 

[Eggcessive]

After reading about West Nile, I don't think they have that since it causes more of a brain infection. Salmonella can cause puss in the eyes. You can check out: edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps031 for the info.

 

[tsbonin]

I did get a batch of bad feed a few weeks ago. We found a tear in the side of the bag that was taped back up. The feed smelled strong and later we noticed bugs in it. We returned it to the co-op and they replaced with a "fresh bag" that still smelled strong to me. They have had new feed since then so I don't know that the feed was a problem. If I give kitchen scraps, (from fruit or veggies), I make sure they are not rotten. Will re-clean the houses this morning but still don't know how to treat or if a antibiotic is needed.

 

[Eggcessive]

I just read an article online about treating salmonella in chickens with cipro or baytril which are antibiotics from the vet. However your vet would need to culture the eye drainage to prove salmonella. Also, it would be very easy for the chickens to re-contaminate themselves with their own droppings. Sounds very complicated and expensive. Many would recommend culling probably. Hope you can solve this. Good luck. Maybe it will turn out to be something else.

 

[tsbonin]

Just bleached both houses with complete bedding removal from pen area. Doctored all sick birds and found one had a slight raspy sound and a odor coming from the head area. The eyes were not bad enough on this one to be the only problem. Maybe this added symptom will help narrow this down. Heading to co-op to search for antibiotics. We have been unable to locate a local vet that deals with chickens in our area.

 

[Eggcessive]

The raspy sound plus an odor kind of sounds like coryza, a respiratory disease that is caused by a bacteria rather than a virus like most respiratory issues. Sulmet is a good antibiotic for treatment, but it can come back again and is chronic. Every chicken coming in may get it, so you will need to vaccinate any new chickens you bring in. It should spread within 10 days to the whole flock if they are exposed. There are many posts on here for more information. By the way, pus in the eyes can be a symptom.

 

[tsbonin]

That was one of the things we thought it may be. We are actually hoping it is fowl pox but still not sure either way. We checked all the chickens tonight and the others seem very healthy. My chickens are isolated except for wild birds coming through. We've had a healthy flock until now. All chickens sick and well are eating and drinking without difficulty or decrease. Some of the waddles have dark spots but over all the rest of the body besides head is fine. Thanks for posts. Still trying to be sure before we medicate but welcome any and all ideas at this point.