I am new to chickens and something is wrong

[nj chickie]

Last week as I was putting my chickens in for the night I noticed a gurgling and they seemed to be sniffling. I went and saw the Chicken Dr at the Sussex County fair and picked up some antibiotics. So they have been on them for almost 4 days. I do not hear the gurgling but they look like their nose has crust on it and this morning one of the hens had an eye that was closed. I am sick that something is wrong with my girls. Please help me get them through this. I did buy some Pet RX and was thinking of trying that to hopefully clear out their nostrils, but what do I do about her eye??

 

[HEChicken]

though I am sorry it is under difficult circumstances.

The eyes being affected by a respiratory infection is common, so you may not need to worry about it per se, but focus on the respiratory infection and the eye will resolve when it is cleared up. (Unless there is a separate injury to the eye, but I would hedge a bet that the two are related and not separate instances.)

The problem with antibiotics is that you have to have the right antibiotic to treat the specific infection. Did the vet do any kind of test to determine what strain of infection your birds have? If not, I wonder how he or she would know what antibiotics to prescribe. Hopefully it is something broad-spectrum enough to make a difference.

The VetRx can't hurt. I honestly have not had any success with it but there are many who swear by it. The two sets of instructions provided on the bottle were to rub it into their beaks and necks (it smells like Vicks so would be the equivalent of using Vicks to help a child FEEL better when he has a cold) or to put it in their water. I have tried it both ways. When I put it in the water, they refused to drink the water at all, and I became concerned about dehydration on top of everything else so after 24 hours I gave up and gave them a bowl of regular water next to the bowl with the VetRx in it, and they drank like they hadn't seen water in days.

If you can handle them easily enough to rub some VetRx into their beaks, I would try that though. It may help clear up congestion so they breathe more easily.

 

[nj chickie]

I will do that as soon as I get home. I thik that I will be able to get it on their beaks without a problem. They are wonderful hens. I will let you know how it goes, thank you for the suggestion.