I have a chicken with a very strange bump over her eye. I posted it here , with pics, a few months ago.
We did antibiotics as suggested in that thread, but no change. Since then, we've just left her to be a chicken. She has been fine. She eats, she drinks, she lays eggs, nobody bothers her or pokes at her eye, and she generally just runs around and has a fine time.
But this thing is now getting so big that I can't ignore it anymore. It's going to obscure all her vision on that side if I don't act soon. So we have a plan, and I'm looking for your help to see if we have the right idea.
We will catch her and put a towel over her head (except the relevant area, of course!) to help keep her calm. DH will hold her. I'll wash the area well with an iodine solution and then use a syringe to draw out the fluid. If the fluid is nasty, or maybe even if it's not, I'll take a scalpel or a sterilized exacto (if I can nerve myself up for this part) and open the area up to clean and apply antibiotic salve. Otherwise, just apply salve on the outside.
OK, critique? Suggestions?
I know topical painkillers can be bad for chickens, but I'm very worried about hurting her and having her start flailing while I'm holding a sharp object right next to her eye.
We did antibiotics as suggested in that thread, but no change. Since then, we've just left her to be a chicken. She has been fine. She eats, she drinks, she lays eggs, nobody bothers her or pokes at her eye, and she generally just runs around and has a fine time.
But this thing is now getting so big that I can't ignore it anymore. It's going to obscure all her vision on that side if I don't act soon. So we have a plan, and I'm looking for your help to see if we have the right idea.
We will catch her and put a towel over her head (except the relevant area, of course!) to help keep her calm. DH will hold her. I'll wash the area well with an iodine solution and then use a syringe to draw out the fluid. If the fluid is nasty, or maybe even if it's not, I'll take a scalpel or a sterilized exacto (if I can nerve myself up for this part) and open the area up to clean and apply antibiotic salve. Otherwise, just apply salve on the outside.
OK, critique? Suggestions?
I know topical painkillers can be bad for chickens, but I'm very worried about hurting her and having her start flailing while I'm holding a sharp object right next to her eye.
