Is she contagious?

LovesBirds

In the Brooder
Sep 16, 2020
11
7
26
So I went on vacation for a few weeks and came back. Then I noticed that my buff a year old was making her egg laying noise and appeared fine until. I saw the other side of her head. One eye is completely swollen shut and she my possibly be blind. I isolated her from the other chickens, she is very unhappy and wishes to be free roaming with her friends. Eats and drinks fine and appears fine except for her eye. I also discoved a huge red wasp nest were she came from in the barn. I've treated her eye with some microcyn and it's less swollen today than yesterday. Any thoughts would be appreciated. We have had issues with a coon and bobcat recently as well at night.
 

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So I went on vacation for a few weeks and came back. Then I noticed...
I isolated her from the other chickens, she is very unhappy and wishes to be free roaming with her friends. Eats and drinks fine and appears fine except for her eye.

If she was contagious, the others were already exposed by the time you came home and noticed it. So isolating her now would not do much good.

I would probably let her rejoin them but watch to be sure they don't pick on her.

For whether it actually is contagious:
If it's a sting or an injury, of course it would not be contagious.
If it is an infection (maybe injured and then infected), the bacteria might be contagious--to any other injuries, but not to birds without injuries.
If it was a disease, I would expect it to be in both eyes, not just one.
So I'm guessing it's probably not going to spread to the other birds. (Guessing, not a certainty.)
 
If she was contagious, the others were already exposed by the time you came home and noticed it. So isolating her now would not do much good.

I would probably let her rejoin them but watch to be sure they don't pick on her.

For whether it actually is contagious:
If it's a sting or an injury, of course it would not be contagious.
If it is an infection (maybe injured and then infected), the bacteria might be contagious--to any other injuries, but not to birds without injuries.
If it was a disease, I would expect it to be in both eyes, not just one.
So I'm guessing it's probably not going to spread to the other birds. (Guessing, not a certainty.)
That was my general feeling as well, but I figured posting a picture of it in case it was come bad illness I wasn't aware of couldn't hurt.
 
Good point. I'm not good at illness symptoms, so hopefully someone else will chime in with that.
That was my general feeling as well, but I figured posting a picture of it in case it was come bad illness I wasn't aware of couldn't hurt.
Swollen head syndrome can begin with an eye and is very contagious. Has the coop been excessively damp, anybody chocking or coughing, or eye bubbling? Swollen head is a respiratory issue (like sinus infection gone crazy), so keep an eye out for any symptoms along those lines.
 
Swollen head syndrome can begin with an eye and is very contagious. Has the coop been excessively damp, anybody chocking or coughing, or eye bubbling? Swollen head is a respiratory issue (like sinus infection gone crazy), so keep an eye out for any symptoms along those lines.
I will keep a eye out. No one couging or sneezing. They spend most of the day free range. This particular chicken doesn't even sleep in the coop. She sleeps in the barn.
 
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Just for future reference, this stuff is like GOLD. Works wonders on respiratory and what I call 'general puny chicken issues'. Everything breathing, sinus, beak related.
 

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