One Eye Swollen Shut: Pls Help Buff Hen! Fowl pox? Pecking injury?

[buffmama4424]

Greetings BYC community! I don’t recognize what’s going on with one of my hens, can you help? Her right eye is swollen and has been mostly shut for approx. 48 hours. Details below:

1) Buff Orpington hen, approx. 3 years old. Average weight (6 lbs). Generally happy and healthy, well-feathered and good-natured.
2) Area around right eye is swollen. I first noticed symptoms Wednesday evening (today is Friday). Most of the swelling we under her eye. There wasn’t any puss or discharge. No noticeable pecking injury. No discolored skin or tissue on her eyelids or around. I rinsed her eye with saline solution and was able to get it open. Brought her inside and put her in a quarantine coop in the bathroom. It stayed open the rest of the evening (a few hours). She would open her eye off and on yesterday, but eye area was still noticeably swollen. Rinsed with saline solution in AM and PM. Under eye swelling decreased, but swelling around upper area of eye increased. Red sore on upper eyelid appeared. This AM, her eye was shut and much more difficult to get to open. Red sore on upper eyelid larger in size and new yellow blister looking growth on corner of upper eyelid. Also, her comb is: floppy at the back, has one sore, and a couple additional very small dark spots.
3) This hen has had eye symptoms for less than 48 hours. She’s had the sore on her comb for approx. 1 week.
4) There are 3 other hens in our flock. None have eye problems or swelling around their eyes. Two have tiny dark spots on their combs.
5) No bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma.
6) This hen, named Cheyenne, has had a sniffle for awhile; treated with VetRX on her wings. I put Hen Healer on her comb last week for the sore. It’s been cold and snowy, so the girls haven’t been free ranging as much as usual and have been spending more time in their coop. I noticed one hen getting nippy with another bird yesterday, which is out of character for our birds who normally get along very well, but that’s all I can think of.
7) Cheyenne is eating normally; not drinking as much as she should. I had a dish of water in her quarantine coop and switched it out this morning for a smaller version of the waterer she is used to; hoping that helps. She readily drinks from a syringe when I offer it to her.
8) Poop ranges from liquid/watery to normal to normal-dry.
9) Quarantining her from her sisters; saline rinse; Hen Healer on her comb.
10 ) I’ll take Cheyenne to the vet if appropriate, but would like to treat at home if I can.
11) Pictures below.
12) Multilevel coop outside with cedar shavings. When below freezing, my husband brings the girls into the heated garage where they have a single level coop with roosting bars and cedar shavings. Food and water are hung from the ground. Shavings changed regularly; garage windows are opened to vent the air.

What do you think, fowl pox in the making, pecking injury, something else? Any feedback is appreciated.

I gave the hens to my husband as an anniversary gift so we are strangely attached to them.

Thanks!

 

[Eggcessive]

Cedar shavings are not very good for chickens, and the oil odor can irritate the lungs. Fowl pox is usually seen in hot weather when mosquitoes, the carrier, are out. I would suspect peck wounds causing the swelling and scab and blister. The comb looks a little dark near the back and tips. It could be circulatory if it reddens later. Her sniffles could be a sign of a respiratory issue. Does she have any enlargement or fluid in her lower belly between the legs? Has she lost weight, and does she lay eggs? I would continue to treat the eye, and possibly use some Terramycin eye ointment or plain Neosporin twice daily.

 

[buffmama4424]

Thank you, @Eggcessive! I misspoke/typed: we have pine shavings, note cedar. Thanks for the feedback re: fowl pox, pecking injuries, etc. I started her on the Terramycin eye ointment this afternoon and she's already showing improvement! I also used VetRX on her waddles and comb.
She doesn't seem to have any enlargement or fluid in her lower belly between the legs, but I don't usually hold that part of her so I can't say I would notice unless she was holding a lot of fluid there. She has not lost weight and, sadly, none of our girls have been laying the last several months.
The flock had coccidiosis in November (diagnosed by local teaching hospital), which we treated with CORID. We've had maybe 3 eggs from our 4 girls since then.
Again, thank you!!

 

[Eggcessive]

Please let us know how she is doing, and I hope that she gets better. You might get more water into her by offering a small bowl of wet chicken feed with some bits of scrambled egg.

 

[buffmama4424]

Please let us know how she is doing, and I hope that she gets better. You might get more water into her by offering a small bowl of wet chicken feed with some bits of scrambled egg.

Update: Cheyenne is feeling much better after a few days of terramycin. This is the first morning she’s had her eye open and throughout the day her eye has been opening wider and wider. She’s definitely improving. Thanks again, @Eggcessive!

 

[Eggcessive]

Glad that she is opening her eye and doing better. If there is any pus around the eye, it may be gently squeezed out. Here is a video about doing that: