Injured Nictitating membrane , how long to heal?

[CircusRing]

Hi everyone. Our 9 week old pullet injured her nictitating membrane on a piece of wire 6 days ago. We fixed that part of the run now. Took her to the vet and was prescribed an antibiotic ointment 2x a day for 7-10 days. We’ve kept her separated from the rest all week and today reintroduced her. All went great until one of our jerks poked her. The eye pussed up a bit so we separated her again. My question is, how long will it take for this eye to heal? Anyone have experience with this sort of thing?

 

[humblehillsfarm]

I'm sorry no one answered you. I'm afraid eye injuries are rather unique, and I don't have a lot of experience in that area. It's so good you had a vet to take her to! I wonder if that could be scar tissue? Do you have any update for us?

 

[Eggcessive]

Sorry that she was reinjured, but you may want to continue cleaning her eye with eye wash and applying the antibiotic ointment or drops the vet prescribed. I also would keep her in a wire dog crate with the other chickens, so they don’t forget her. Has she been picked on before or low in the pecking order? Her eyesight has probably been affected, so I would hope that it heals before letting her out. I would guess that it could take a couple of weeks to completely heal, but hopefully there won’t be any scar tissue.

 

[CircusRing]

Hi folks! Thanks for replying! Yes, I sent pics of her eye to the vet at various times of the day because the look of the membrane seemed to change depending on what time of day it was. The vet said it looked like it was healing nicely, and suggested to keep her separated until she fully healed. It's starting to look much better now, and has been about 11 days since the "incident". So she is in a large wire dog crate that was at first outside of the run but right beside it. Then on Tuesday of this week we put the crate right inside the run. She is for sure low on the pecking order, and now is firmly at the bottom. I read a re-integration article from this site (thank goodness for this site or I'd be panicked), and we are going to fill a can with coins to shake at the bully when we do try to let her out. Also, the flock has not yet free run because they are babies and I guess so are we (LOL), and we might just try to re-introduce her with a full flock free range day. That way, hopefully they will all be too interested in exploring to want to really beat her up. I guess I assumed because they were only 8-9 weeks when this happened that re-integration would be a non-issue. But there are two in particular I think we need to keep our eye on. Also the article suggested a "bully blaster" (water squirts) and to put any problematic hens in the dog crate for a day to take them down a notch themselves on the pecking-order. We will try both, be vigilant, and I think the most important think is going to be patience. I don't think this will be as fast as I was hoping. The article I read said it took the woman TWO MONTHS!!!! I don't want ours to take that long. I REALLY DON'T. But if I have no choice, then I might just have to suck it up. We bring her in to the house at night, and put her out in the run just before the auto-door opens so the other birds think she's in there most of the time. I will continue to update this thread because you never know who it might help one day. I will post pics of her eye too in a little while so folks can see how it's healing. (PS: I'm kinda grateful we are in COVID lock-down(ish) still so I can be home during this time to take better care of her. I guess that's the silver lining during all this junk.)

 

[humblehillsfarm]

Hi folks! Thanks for replying! Yes, I sent pics of her eye to the vet at various times of the day because the look of the membrane seemed to change depending on what time of day it was. The vet said it looked like it was healing nicely, and suggested to keep her separated until she fully healed. It's starting to look much better now, and has been about 11 days since the "incident". So she is in a large wire dog crate that was at first outside of the run but right beside it. Then on Tuesday of this week we put the crate right inside the run. She is for sure low on the pecking order, and now is firmly at the bottom. I read a re-integration article from this site (thank goodness for this site or I'd be panicked), and we are going to fill a can with coins to shake at the bully when we do try to let her out. Also, the flock has not yet free run because they are babies and I guess so are we (LOL), and we might just try to re-introduce her with a full flock free range day. That way, hopefully they will all be too interested in exploring to want to really beat her up. I guess I assumed because they were only 8-9 weeks when this happened that re-integration would be a non-issue. But there are two in particular I think we need to keep our eye on. Also the article suggested a "bully blaster" (water squirts) and to put any problematic hens in the dog crate for a day to take them down a notch themselves on the pecking-order. We will try both, be vigilant, and I think the most important think is going to be patience. I don't think this will be as fast as I was hoping. The article I read said it took the woman TWO MONTHS!!!! I don't want ours to take that long. I REALLY DON'T. But if I have no choice, then I might just have to suck it up. We bring her in to the house at night, and put her out in the run just before the auto-door opens so the other birds think she's in there most of the time. I will continue to update this thread because you never know who it might help one day. I will post pics of her eye too in a little while so folks can see how it's healing. (PS: I'm kinda grateful we are in COVID lock-down(ish) still so I can be home during this time to take better care of her. I guess that's the silver lining during all this junk.)

So glad she is doing better! I think you’re on the right path with reintegration, especially on a free range day. After a few days to a week of her being in sight in her cage, I recommend putting her in the coop at night with the others and wake up at dawn to let them out. The birds won’t bother her at night. It does help transition things. Be prepared for a long week or two. Bullying needs to happen at first. Only intervene if she can’t seem to get away from them or if it is too violent. Hopefully there are plenty of hiding places for her! Unfortunately this is how the pecking order goes. I was in a similar situation myself with a young pullet being reintroduced after an injury. She finally moved up in the pecking order a year later when I put new babies in with the flock.

 

[CircusRing]

Good to hear it worked out for your girl. My fingers are crossed mine goes ok too. I'll keep everyone updated.

 

[Eggcessive]

If one hen in particular is being a bully, you can use pinless peepers on her, so that she cannot see directly in front of her to peck a chicken. Here is a link, and you can google for more choices:
https://www.eggcartons.com/Pinless-Peepers-p/article-1.htm

 

[CircusRing]

If one hen in particular is being a bully, you can use pinless peepers on her, so that she cannot see directly in front of her to peck a chicken. Here is a link, and you can google for more choices:
https://www.eggcartons.com/Pinless-Peepers-p/article-1.htm

Amazing. I will look in to this, thank you!

 

[CircusRing]

It has been three weeks since the “incident” and Slippers’ eye is doing fantastic. It almost looks normal. It is a bit scarred but she can open and close the eye with no issues. Reintegration is coming along nicely. She no longer panics when she gets pecked, and even gives out a few pecks herself. She is still reluctant to go in the coop at night though so for now is still in the house at night. We think we are going to have to slip her in one night and let them out early as suggested. Here is a pic of her eye.

 

[Eggcessive]

Thank you for that update, and so food to hear that she is healing well. Hopefully, the reintegration will continue to go smoothly.