Old hen was attacked by other chickens. Might be missing eye?

[Abcannie]

Hi,

I have a few older hens that I have had for many years that are all very sweet with each other. I recently adopted two younger, bigger hens and have been keeping them separate from the old ladies until they could get to know each other.

Yesterday I finally did an introduction and they were getting along really well so I let them be, but still had separate nesting boxes and coops that they could go in at night. Well, long story short, my oldest hen (Red) got into the wrong coop last night, and it appears the wind pushed to door closed, and Red got locked in there with the new chickens and they did a number on her.

I have brought Red and her best friend inside to our spare bathroom but she is just laying down and obviously in pain. One eye appears to have bubbles coming out of it, but the other one might be completely missing. Can anyone help? I do not know much about poultry so idk what information you need, but I will be quick to respond.

 

[Abcannie]

Hi,

I have a few older hens that I have had for many years that are all very sweet with each other. I recently adopted two younger, bigger hens and have been keeping them separate from the old ladies until they could get to know each other.

Yesterday I finally did an introduction and they were getting along really well so I let them be, but still had separate nesting boxes and coops that they could go in at night. Well, long story short, my oldest hen (Red) got into the wrong coop last night, and it appears the wind pushed to door closed, and Red got locked in there with the new chickens and they did a number on her.

I have brought Red and her best friend inside to our spare bathroom but she is just laying down and obviously in pain. One eye appears to have bubbles coming out of it, but the other one might be completely missing. Can anyone help? I do not know much about poultry so idk what information you need, but I will be quick to respond.

I used a warm cloth and cleaned the eye that had the bubbles earlier and she was able to open that eye and look at me and it’s looking okay now.

I have a vet friend that I can reach out to write me any prescriptions that I need, but I know she’s going to say that she’s not familiar with chickens. Do you guys know exactly what I should ask her for as far as antibiotics/pain medication? I just ran to the store and got some Vetericyn for her, so hopefully that’s good.

 

[Rose the Legbar]

Oh poor girl. Get saline eye wash and wash her eye out. She may be blind in that eye forever but it needs to be rinsed daily or twice daily to keep from things getting in it and infecting the eye. I don’t know anything else to use on the eye but for now you can do that. These lovely people can help much better than I can, @Wyorp Rock @Eggcessive @azygous

 

[Abcannie]

Oh poor girl. Get saline eye wash and wash her eye out. She may be blind in that eye forever but it needs to be rinsed daily or twice daily to keep from things getting in it and infecting the eye. I don’t know anything else to use on the eye but for now you can do that. These lovely people can help much better than I can, @Wyorp Rock @Eggcessive @azygous

I may already have some saline around here so I’ll get on that right away! Thank you for the info, I’ve been absolutely panicked.

I took her friend back outside to give Red some peace and quiet. Sprayed her wounds with the wound cleaner above, and left her to nap in our spare bathroom.

Her breathing is a bit labored, but I’m thinking that’s just because her nostrils seem to be a bit swollen up?

I’ll do the saline solution next, then just give her a chance to rest for a while without bothering her. Thank you again for helping.

 

[HappyHippyChick]

Can you give her a baby aspirin? That may soothe her eye.

 

[HappyHippyChick]

Is there something like numbing drops? I've used that on myself but I cannot remember the name of it.

 

[Rose the Legbar]

No numbing drops, I have heard that things they use for numbing in humans is not good for chickens and can cause issues.

 

[theoldchick]

You can flush the area with saline solution (purchased at any drug store/walmart), gently dry with clean soft cloth and apply Terramycin eye ointment (Tractor Supply has it) twice daily for 3 days then reevaluate. Give one half of 325 mg aspirin once daily by mouth for three days.

 

[Abcannie]

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Can you give her a baby aspirin? That may soothe her eye.

Now that I have a dosage suggestion, I plan to get her some right away thank you!

You can flush the area with saline solution (purchased at any drug store/walmart), gently dry with clean soft cloth and apply Terramycin eye ointment (Tractor Supply has it) twice daily for 3 days then reevaluate. Give one half of 325 mg aspirin once daily by mouth for three days. View attachment 3722628

View attachment 3722629

Thank you everyone for the great info! I’m finally starting to feel as though she’s going to be okay! I have a flair for the dramatic and thought for sure she was a goner, but she seems to be improving already. (She is holding her head up now and opening one eye, which she didn’t want to do a couple hours ago!)

I have some terramycin from our feral cats, so will apply that as soon as I get home. Heading to drug store for baby aspirin right now!
Can I crush the aspirin and use a syringe kitten feeder thing to administer? She’s not ready to eat yet, probably because she’s in so much pain?

Thank you all so much. I cannot thank you enough.

 

[theoldchick]

You can pop the aspirin in her mouth.