One eye closed on my hen

[waterboychuck]

When a chicken holds one eye closed, it means it hurts. Also, tipping the head in that direction can mean the eye and maybe the ear hurts. Does she scratch at her ear? That would mean the ear hurts. People say chickens hide their pain, but you just need to be able to read the signs. They experience pain fully as we do, and try to make it go away by scratching it, like we do rubbing a sore spot.

Look into that ear for crusty buildup. If you see that, she may have infection. Do as the others have told you to open the eye to look at it. Look for bubbles, a white film or other anomalies.

I was going to make a joke about putting human eye drops in her eye turning her into a human, but that would be too horrible to contemplate. Yes, human medicine of all kinds work on chickens just fine.

She is not scratching her ear that I know of and they both looked clean. I have help holding her while I put eye drops in. I'll check later today and again to see how she's doing.

 

[waterboychuck]

She is not scratching her ear that I know of and they both looked clean. I have help holding her while I put eye drops in. I'll check later today and again to see how she's doing.

yesterday I bought some Terramycin and put it in her eye 3 times and again once this morning. She is getting worst as per the photo but she did have an egg under her. Now I put in some Neosporin and placed a worm cloth over her eye which she liked. She can't be eating and I'm not sure what to do. Here is a photo.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Looks like she has Wry Neck, which is a neurological symptom.
A few causes are Marek's, vitamin deficiency as mentioned previously in this thread and injury.
I would give her 400IU Vitamin E and 1/2 tablet B-Complex daily. A treat of egg would be good to help with the uptake of E.
Make sure she's getting hydrated and eating, you may need to help her eat/drink.

 

[waterboychuck]

Looks like she has Wry Neck, which is a neurological symptom.
A few causes are Marek's, vitamin deficiency as mentioned previously in this thread and injury.
I would give her 400IU Vitamin E and 1/2 tablet B-Complex daily. A treat of egg would be good to help with the uptake of E.
Make sure she's getting hydrated and eating, you may need to help her eat/drink.

I thought that her eye being closed like that meant that she is turning her head so that she could see out of the good eye. I have been putting a warm towel on her closed eye and she seems to enjoy that. I have a total of 3 hens and she is the only one like this. I feed them Layena as their main food plus treats are meal worms and scratch. Also things from the house like lettuce etc. Should I continue tending to her eye?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I thought that her eye being closed like that meant that she is turning her head so that she could see out of the good eye. I have been putting a warm towel on her closed eye and she seems to enjoy that. I have a total of 3 hens and she is the only one like this. I feed them Layena as their main food plus treats are meal worms and scratch. Also things from the house like lettuce etc. Should I continue tending to her eye?

I don't see any harm in continuing to tend to the eye, but I would also give her vitamin therapy.

 

[waterboychuck]

I don't see any harm in continuing to tend to the eye, but I would also give her vitamin therapy.

I've been treating my hen since I started this tread. Here's what's happening. When I pick her up to give her the vitamins, which includes 200mcg Selenium, 1/2 tablet of B complex, and 200 IU E, she will start to rotate her neck like a helicopter blade and then stop with her beak facing me which is 180 degrees from normal. I put each pill in her mouth and she does swallow. I use something like a turkey baster to give her water for the pills. Once done I put her back in the coop and she then almost buries her head in the floor and is there for some time. The attached is what she looks like prior to me picking her up. Am I doing something wrong here? I have 3 hens and am getting 2 eggs a day but one egg is on the floor and not in the nesting box so I don't know if it's her laying it or not.

 

[waterboychuck]

I've been treating my hen since I started this tread. Here's what's happening. When I pick her up to give her the vitamins, which includes 200mcg Selenium, 1/2 tablet of B complex, and 200 IU E, she will start to rotate her neck like a helicopter blade and then stop with her beak facing me which is 180 degrees from normal. I put each pill in her mouth and she does swallow. I use something like a turkey baster to give her water for the pills. Once done I put her back in the coop and she then almost buries her head in the floor and is there for some time. The attached is what she looks like prior to me picking her up. Am I doing something wrong here? I have 3 hens and am getting 2 eggs a day but one egg is on the floor and not in the nesting box so I don't know if it's her laying it or not.

Just a couple more photos that I just took. The first is of her the way I found her this morning and the second is how she sits in my left are as I feed her. Besides water I'm also giving her Layena pellets.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

When I pick her up to give her the vitamins, which includes 200mcg Selenium, 1/2 tablet of B complex, and 200 IU E, she will start to rotate her neck like a helicopter blade and then stop with her beak facing me which is 180 degrees from normal. I put each pill in her mouth and she does swallow. I use something like a turkey baster to give her water for the pills. Once done I put her back in the coop and she then almost buries her head in the floor and is there for some time. The attached is what she looks like prior to me picking her up. Am I doing something wrong here?

I would give her 400IU Vitamin E and 1/2 tablet B-Complex daily. A treat of egg would be good to help with the uptake of E.

Wry Neck, which is a neurological symptom.
A few causes are Marek's, vitamin deficiency as mentioned previously in this thread and injury.

200mcg of Selenium is way too much. 25mcg is the daily max for a chicken.
Cut out the Selenium, there should already by some in her feed. As mentioned, a daily treat of egg will have enough Selenium to help with the uptake of extra E.

400IU Vitamin E would be good to give so double what you are giving her on that.

I don't think you are necessarily doing anything wrong. Wry Neck is a Symptom.
Without testing or unless you lose her and have necropsy/diagnostics, there's no way to know for sure of the cause. Vitamin Therapy is really the only treatment option to try unless you find something else with research.
Do the best you can. It can take weeks/months for a bird to recover, sometimes they don't.

 

[waterboychuck]

She is not scratching her ear that I know of and they both looked clean. I have help holding her while I put eye drops in. I'll check later today and again to see how she's doing.

Now my hen does not want to take any vitamins or water, but it appears that her neck is straight. Now she just stays in the coop in one spot and both of her eyes are closed. Any suggestions on what I should do.

 

[Eggcessive]

Is she able to stand or walk? I would still try to get her to take sips of water and offer watery food. Do you have any newer pictures of how she is sitting?