Pecked eye/ Sick or molting chicken?

[Cason1479]

Hello, I'm a brand new chicken owner and looking some advice on a few chickens. The first issue is with a 15 month old, I believe it's a white leghorn. We bought 2 of these chickens, one is beautiful and healthy, the other who is the chicken in question has always looked a little rough, but just in the past week or so she's been looking even rougher. Is it possible she's molting? I don't know much about the molting process or what it looks like. These two are our only birds that are old enough to lay. They were laying when we got them but the past two weeks we've had no eggs. We attributed the lack of eggs to the crazy heat we've had here in mid missouri, but if she's molting that could cause her to stop laying too. Or is this a disease? She's never been one to be too friendly with people, but this morning she was standing with her eyes half open and let me come right up to her and check her out.



She's just recently lost the feathers on her head















The second issue is with pecking. About three weeks ago we noticed one of our 6 month old pullet's eye was swollen shut. At the time there was a little bit of fluid in the eye area. With busy schedules we weren't able to get to the farm store for a few days and by that time the swelling had gone down and no more puss but it was still shut. She acts relatively normal for a one eyed chicken so we figured we'd let it go and see what happens. This morning she's more lethargic than usual and I noticed our youngest pullet (10 weeks) eye was swollen shut, no fluid. I wasn't able to get pictures of this but its slightly swollen shut and the feathers around the one eye are gone. The skin really isn't discolored at all. How should I be treating their eyes and how do i prevent this behavior? Space isn't an issue, plenty of room in the coop and they have around an acre available to them that they free range all day. I love my flock and hate to see any of the birds injured. Its been a pretty stressful morning seeing all there of these ladies in these conditions and any help or advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

[I Love Layers]

Check this article. https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/molting-your-flocks-seasonal-shedding

 

[Cason1479]

So you think she's just molting?

 

[CluckerCottage]

I am not quite sure but your girl looks pretty poorly. I raise white leghorns and have never seen any of my girls look that bad.
The swollen shut eye is not normal at anytime in their lives. Did you look for a foreign body in the eye? Try to rinse it with a syringe filled with water?
Her toenails need a good trimming, she needs a good soak in a lukewarm tub of water, needs to be thoroughly checked for lice and mites, also for skin breakdown.
From your photos, it looks like I'm seeing lice eggs covering the feather shafts and perhaps mites around they eye.
Her comb is very faded, she also looks dehydrated so giving water with a syringe may help if she's not drinking on her own.
Sav-a-chick is also a great product to use- it contains electrolytes and vitamins.
Let us know what you find after the inspection.

 

[Cason1479]

I am not quite sure but your girl looks pretty poorly. I raise white leghorns and have never seen any of my girls look that bad.
The swollen shut eye is not normal at anytime in their lives. Did you look for a foreign body in the eye? Try to rinse it with a syringe filled with water?
Her toenails need a good trimming, she needs a good soak in a lukewarm tub of water, needs to be thoroughly checked for lice and mites, also for skin breakdown.
From your photos, it looks like I'm seeing lice eggs covering the feather shafts and perhaps mites around they eye.
Her comb is very faded, she also looks dehydrated so giving water with a syringe may help if she's not drinking on her own.
Sav-a-chick is also a great product to use- it contains electrolytes and vitamins.
Let us know what you find after the inspection.

Oh no okay I'll be making a trip to the farm and garden store and she's getting a bath today. Is there any product or treatment for the lice or mites? Also, none of my other chickens are in this condition whatsoever but do they all need treatment for lice and mites since she has it? Poor girl.

 

[CluckerCottage]

If you find lice and mites, it's a sure bet your entire flock is affected. You'll need to treat them all, disinfect the coop, nest boxes, roost bars, every crack and crevice.
Sprinkle Diatomaceous Earth (food grade) everywhere as well.
It's helpful to have a dustbath area with DE and wood ash in it so the girls can keep the parasites down.
I had a lice and mite problem when I adopted some ex-battery hens. Did everything to kill the bugs but in the end the only thing that worked for me was Ivermectin pour-on for cattle.

 

[Cason1479]

Okay thank you

 

[chickcrack]

I am not quite sure but your girl looks pretty poorly. I raise white leghorns and have never seen any of my girls look that bad.
The swollen shut eye is not normal at anytime in their lives. Did you look for a foreign body in the eye? Try to rinse it with a syringe filled with water?
Her toenails need a good trimming, she needs a good soak in a lukewarm tub of water, needs to be thoroughly checked for lice and mites, also for skin breakdown.
From your photos, it looks like I'm seeing lice eggs covering the feather shafts and perhaps mites around they eye.
Her comb is very faded, she also looks dehydrated so giving water with a syringe may help if she's not drinking on her own.
Sav-a-chick is also a great product to use- it contains electrolytes and vitamins.
Let us know what you find after the inspection.

Agree 100% with Cluckercottage. This girl looks very ill. I suggest you act quickly with parasite treatment, supportive vitamins added to water and perhaps some additional protein in form of scrambled eggs, plain yogurt, fish or boiled meat. Good luck I hope she recovers.