One runny eye, no other symptoms

[countrygoddess]

I have a 22 week old lavender Ameraucana pullet who has had a chronically runny eye for a couple of months. It seems as though it is irritated, as she keeps it closed unless she really needs it. When it's open, it's clear and bright with no redness. The wateriness is not bubbly, she has no nasal discharge, is not coughing, her breathing is normal, her energy is normal, she is eating and pooping normally. The feathers under her eye are crusted because of the excess tearing, but there is no evidence that they are crusted with pus or anything.

What could this be, a simple eye infection? How does one go about treating something like this? I am not a take-my-poultry-to-the-vet kind of person...

 

[Judy]

Many if not most of our members don't take chickens to vets. Besides the expense, most "regular" vets won't even treat chickens, or if they try, they have very little knowledge of them. Avian vets are hard to find and a good deal more expensive.

I wonder if something like a corneal ulcer, maybe from a pecking injury, could cause it. Are you sure she can see out of that eye? I even wonder if the eyeball is leaking vitreous fluid.

I would start with antibiotic ophthalmic ointment, available at most feed stores. You can also use plain, brand name Neosporin ointment in an eye. I would put just a dab on the eyelid once or twice a day for several days. If it's a chronic infection, hopefully this will clear it up.

 

[countrygoddess]

Thank you, flockwatcher. I'll give ophthalmic ointment a try. I'm fairly certain she can see from the eye and apart from the weepiness, it appears so normal that I'm confident it isn't vitreous fluid.

 

[Judy]

That's good news, anyway. I hope it clears up.

 

[countrygoddess]

I went out after dark with Poultry RX diluted in warm water, some cotton balls, and a glob of Neosporin (no benzocaine in it). I used the diluted Poultry RX to swab off the crusties and then smeared the Neosporin on. She was incredibly offended! LOL But hopefully she starts to have some relief from the obvious discomfort of it. Tomorrow I'm going to see if I have time after work to drive into the next town where the feed store is get some ophthalmic ointment.

 

[dawg53]

You could also liberally flush the eye with saline solution in case there's something stuck in the eye like a piece of fluff/feather, dust etc.... then apply eye ointment after flushing.

 

[Judy]

Good idea, Dawg. I didn't think of that. She will have soemthing to say about that, lol!

 

[countrygoddess]

It's looking so far with just what I did. Haven't gotten the chance to get over to the feed store for ointment, but I will in the next day or two. Oh, and it's VetRX that I used--I was wrong when I wrote PoultryRX. Anyway, so far so good. My biggest worry right now is the hawk that insists on landing on their hoop coop to torment them... :-S