Majorly swollen eye for a week. I'm thinking Coryza, won't drain by squeezing. How do I lance?

[HollyDelightly]

Hello, this is my first post on the forum, but I've loved reading other forums for months now. I got my first chickens this spring and I've had awful luck, and I really need some reassurance and guidance.

I lost two of my four birds last month, which I had raised from chicks, one to a dog, one had crossbeak and lost an eye before I had to put her down (most dreadful thing I've ever done). Three weeks ago I brought home two birds from the state fair, a pullet Barred Rock and an adult Blue Orpington. I watched them for a day then put them with the others (sigh, learn by doing) because I was going out of town in a week. The original two immediately got the sniffles (which has since gone away with tetracycline) but everybody otherwise seemed fine. Within a day of me leaving (and leaving the birds in the care of my neighbors, who did the maintenance work but otherwise knew little about chickens) we had my first hawk attack. The pullet got injured (but saved by the neighbor in the nick of time!) and has since recovered. 10 days after the attack I swung by home for a day before I headed out of town for another week, and noticed two things my neighbors had missed- one of my original birds had strange matted feathers right at both shoulder-blades and the back of the neck. I think she must have gotten injured by the hawk, bled, and has since been able to clean herself up except for in those areas. I put Vetericyn on the feathers but she appears to be fine. I'm not worried, but if somebody recognizes it as something other than bloodied feathers (mites, perhaps?) then I'd love the input.





Ok, on to my poor Orpington. I was told she was born in February, but I haven't gotten a single egg out of her. I know stress can cause this, but I'm getting the sinking feeling that they purposefully forgot to tell me which year she was born in. She's always acted shy, but the one day I was home (about a week ago) I noticed she didn't leave the coop because of an injured eye. I isolated her in an outdoor sick bay, put Vetericyn on the eye and the swollen side of the face, and added probiotics to the water before I left and instructed the neighbors to do the same (can't know for sure if they did). I returned yesterday and the issue has not gotten better, but not really worse either. The other eye occasionally has bubbles in it. She usually has her mouth open a bit. The injured eye looks like it's still intact, just surrounded with swollen tissue. What do you guys think? Injury? Virus/bacteria? There's a lot of scary diagnosis around and none of them sound optimistic. I'm angry and sad that I've had such bad luck with all of my birds. I'm tempted to scrap the whole idea and let my heart heal for awhile. Hugs and help appreciated.

 

[cuteubbi]

Hello, this is my first post on the forum, but I've loved reading other forums for months now. I got my first chickens this spring and I've had awful luck, and I really need some reassurance and guidance. I lost two of my four birds last month, which I had raised from chicks, one to a dog, one had crossbeak and lost an eye before I had to put her down (most dreadful thing I've ever done). Three weeks ago I brought home two birds from the state fair, a pullet Barred Rock and an adult Blue Orpington. I watched them for a day then put them with the others (sigh, learn by doing) because I was going out of town in a week. The original two immediately got the sniffles (which has since gone away with tetracycline) but everybody otherwise seemed fine. Within a day of me leaving (and leaving the birds in the care of my neighbors, who did the maintenance work but otherwise knew little about chickens) we had my first hawk attack. The pullet got injured (but saved by the neighbor in the nick of time!) and has since recovered. 10 days after the attack I swung by home for a day before I headed out of town for another week, and noticed two things my neighbors had missed- one of my original birds had strange matted feathers right at both shoulder-blades and the back of the neck. I think she must have gotten injured by the hawk, bled, and has since been able to clean herself up except for in those areas. I put Vetericyn on the feathers but she appears to be fine. I'm not worried, but if somebody recognizes it as something other than bloodied feathers (mites, perhaps?) then I'd love the input. Ok, on to my poor Orpington. I was told she was born in February, but I haven't gotten a single egg out of her. I know stress can cause this, but I'm getting the sinking feeling that they purposefully forgot to tell me which year she was born in. She's always acted shy, but the one day I was home (about a week ago) I noticed she didn't leave the coop because of an injured eye. I isolated her in an outdoor sick bay, put Vetericyn on the eye and the swollen side of the face, and added probiotics to the water before I left and instructed the neighbors to do the same (can't know for sure if they did). I returned yesterday and the issue has not gotten better, but not really worse either. The other eye occasionally has bubbles in it. She usually has her mouth open a bit. The injured eye looks like it's still intact, just surrounded with swollen tissue. What do you guys think? Injury? Virus/bacteria? There's a lot of scary diagnosis around and none of them sound optimistic. I'm angry and sad that I've had such bad luck with all of my birds. I'm tempted to scrap the whole idea and let my heart heal for awhile. Hugs and help appreciated.

same was happened wth my chickens...i had around 24 chicks of different ages from 2 to 3.5 months and all were living together...i got 2 chicks tht were inffected wth swallen eyes (it was not cleared when i got, but after 2 to 3 days i saw the swallen eyes)...well, i used many home remedies and medicines but there impact was very slow and some were tough to follow...in 2 weeks, i remain only 12 or 13 chicks...chicks were dying one bcoz of this problem...i was disappointed and hopeless...even one of my healthiest chick lost his both black circle of his eyes...he became blind...then i experiment my own...i washed one of the chick's eye...i realized tht a liquid..thinck liquid kind of thing was dropping from his eyes...i washed his eys with water and slowly pressed the area around his eyes...the liquid come out speedly...he was looking better after it...after 2 to 3 days..he was healthy and perfect.....i used this method to all my chicks and luckily after this, i dont loose any chick bcoz of this sickness...even, some chicks got this sickness again after recovery, but after wash their eyes two to three times...the problem was solved...try to do this...i m confident tht ur chicks will become healthy....

 

[cuteubbi]

p.s. seperate ur infected hens as soon as possible till they become healhty....if u need more details feel free to msg here....good luck

 

[HollyDelightly]

Thanks for the quick response, cuteubbi. So you're saying squeeze the pus out gently? What did you wash the eye with?

 

[Eggcessive]

Your orpington may have coryza or mycoplasma, or one of the other viral or bacterial respiratory diseases. You may need to look into the bad eye, and try to dig out any pus pockets in there with a Q-Tip, since they are painful. I would give her an antibiotic such as Tylan 50 3/4 ml by mouth daily for 5 days. You can also give it by a shot into the breast for 3 days. Does she have a bad smell around her head? Here is some info about diseases: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044 As for the laying, she probably won't lay until she is over the disease. I would inspect all of the birds especially around the vent for evidence of mite or lice eggs.

 

[cuteubbi]

Thanks for the quick response, [COLOR=B42000]cuteubbi[/COLOR]. So you're saying squeeze the pus out gently? What did you wash the eye with?

yes, squeeze the pus out gently....wash the eyes wth water simply...wth little pressure onto their eyes .... the visible pus will remove

 

[HollyDelightly]

Yes, I believe it's coryza, since there is a smell. I spoke on the phone with a friend of a friend and she walked me through three things-

1. Tip the bird upside down and stretch out her neck. When I did this, probably 2 tablespoons of liquid and goo came out of her throat and nose from her lungs. After, she immediately started foraging and grooming, which I hadn't seen her do in days, so she must have been able to breathe better.

2. Take a long feather and hold the bird secure. Stretch the neck out and, feather tip (not quill) end first, send it gently down the throat as far as you can, and as you remove it twist like a Q-tip, like you're cleaning an ear. Do this three times a day. So far, each time has pulled up a significant amount of goo.

3. Press hard on the swollen sinus under the eye, in hopes that it will burst out the eye or nose. When I did this, I could not get pus to erupt but I did clear away some on the surface. The tissue in the front corner of her eye is so swollen I can hardly see the eye underneath. (Here, I give a moment of thanks this is only affecting one eye. My research about these things has been disheartening.)

I've got B-12, electrolytes, and tetracycline in her water. I'm looking into getting Tylan 50 now.

My new question- my friend of a friend recommended making a tiny incision under the eye and trying to get the pus out that way. Has anyone done this and could perhaps elaborate on her suggestion?

 

[Eggcessive]

Coryza is best treated with sulfadimethoxine (Di-Methox, Sulfamed G, or Albon) and Tylan is okay if you can't get it. The fluid that is coming out when you bend your bird over is basically crop contents (vomit.) This is treatment for a sour crop. Sour crop is when the crop is balloon like and squishy, and not emptying. Vomiting a chicken is very risky, and many have had their birds choke and die from this, so I would not attempt it again. It also should not be necessary unless she has sour crop. There are some threads where people have made incisions to remove pus pockets from around eyes. Doing a search at the top left may get a few threads to read. Here is a link on crop issues: http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/04/answers-from-chicken-vet-on-impacted.html

 

[Eggcessive]

Here is a thread about surgically draining a pus pocket. Your need to read a couple of pages and there are before/after pictures: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/504944/swollen-side-of-face-cyst-surgery

 

[HollyDelightly]

Thank you, Eggcessive. I've been doing some reading. Fortunately, the swelling doesn't feel hard so we may not be to the surgical removal point. I'm going to try to slowly drain it with a 18g needle first, massage it, try to squeeze it out, and clean up whatever I can see. Then inject Tylan 50 into the area and cover with Veteracyn.

Also, I like the idea of massaging the roof of the mouth to loosen up the sinuses. I'll try that as well.

Also, interesting about the vomit.