Please Help! Chicken eye Infection

[matchalover234]

Hello! I just joined BYC today because I was hoping to get some help with my chickens eye. A few days ago I noticed she was isolating herself in the coop. She wouldn’t come out at all so I would bring her some food and water. 2 days ago I noticed that one of her eyes was shut. She couldn’t really open it and I noticed some fluid around her beak. She was gasping for air? I did some research and it seemed like it was an eye infection. I saw some people recommending Neosporin so I went to the store and bought some for her. I cleaned her eye with some warm water. I then applied the Neosporin with a Qtip and then let her rest. She’s been isolated inside my garage, but when I went to check up on her this morning I noticed her eye looked much worse. It now looks like there’s pus in it and it is so swollen compared to yesterday. It seems like her infection is getting worst and I don’t know if I did something wrong. If somebody could please help! I don’t want her to get worst because of not treating her eye correctly I’ve attached a picture, my family brought her outside for a bit so she could get some fresh air

 

[alinas2010]

Welcome to the site, sorry it is under these circumstances. Is there a smell amongst her head at all? If she had a respiratory infection, she may need an antibiotic, do you have access to any? If you do let us know what you have or even better if a vet is an option. Neosporin is okay for eye infections, Terramycin eye ointment will work also. What is her other eye like? Let me tag an educator for some advice on respiratory and eye infections @Wyorp Rock @azygous @Eggcessive

 

[Eggcessive]

Is there drainage coming from her nostrils or is she swallowing often as if mucus is draining from her sinuses? Does she shake her head to clear mucus from her beak or does she sneeze or rattle? The swollen eyelid and pus may be from a respiratory disease, such as MG or coryza, or she could have something stuck in her eye causing infection. The pus in her eye really needs to come out. You can flush her eye with saline or an eye wash, and try to press out any of the solid pus. It may take more than one session, and another person helping you hold her wrapped in a towel can help. I would also get some Tylosin powder to put in her water to treat MG.
https://birdpalproducts.com/product...5OwmVwKpANkcHYeV61xizkXLQ9L0FwNCWm6-L-lGvnH2k

If she has a bad odor, a sulfa antibiotic would be better to treat coryza. Here is a graphic video of removing pus from an eye:

 

[matchalover234]

Welcome to the site, sorry it is under these circumstances. Is there a smell amongst her head at all? If she had a respiratory infection, she may need an antibiotic, do you have access to any? If you do let us know what you have or even better if a vet is an option. Neosporin is okay for eye infections, Terramycin eye ointment will work also. What is her other eye like? Let me tag an educator for some advice on respiratory and eye infections @Wyorp Rock @azygous @Eggcessive

Hello! Thank you for replying. This is what her other eye looks like, and yes there is an unpleasant odor coming from her head. I wanted to get her Terramycin because I heard it’s what works best but it is only available under prescription. I’ve also heard of VetRx but shipping takes about 3-5 days and I wasn’t sure if it was okay to wait that long. I wanted to try to treat it at home first but if it is something very serious I plan on taking her to the vet immediately!

 

[matchalover234]

Is there drainage coming from her nostrils or is she swallowing often as if mucus is draining from her sinuses? Does she shake her head to clear mucus from her beak or does she sneeze or rattle? The swollen eyelid and pus may be from a respiratory disease, such as MG or coryza, or she could have something stuck in her eye causing infection. The pus in her eye really needs to come out. You can flush her eye with saline or an eye wash, and try to press out any of the solid pus. It may take more than one session, and another person helping you hold her wrapped in a towel can help. I would also get some Tylosin powder to put in her water to treat MG.
https://birdpalproducts.com/product...5OwmVwKpANkcHYeV61xizkXLQ9L0FwNCWm6-L-lGvnH2k

If she has a bad odor, a sulfa antibiotic would be better to treat coryza. Here is a graphic video of removing pus from an eye:

Thank you for your reply! Yes there is a bad odor. She has been shaking her head to clear the mucus. I plan on draining the pus as soon as possible but the only antibiotic at hand is Neoosporin. I’ve looked into others like Terramycin and VetRx but only 3-5 day deliveries are available.

 

[alinas2010]

You should be able to get Terramycin without a prescription, you can get it from a farm store even, but it might be locked up and you might have to ask for it. It should be available online, also. Other antibiotics you will usually need a prescription for. @Eggcessive gave a good website for ordering antibiotics yourself without a prescription. The websites are a bit of a loophole to get them without a vet, so if you can get your dosing right you can treat her yourself. A vet is usually going to be best, though, especially if they know how to treat poultry. Here is another site I’ve seen people get antibiotics from without a prescription, I think you can find Terramycin here, too:

https://allbirdproducts.com/

Let us know how she does.

 

[alinas2010]

@Eggcessive what kind of antibiotic is a sulfa one? Like what are some examples?

 

[matchalover234]

You should be able to get Terramycin without a prescription, you can get it from a farm store even, but it might be locked up and you might have to ask for it. It should be available online, also. Other antibiotics you will usually need a prescription for. @Eggcessive gave a good website for ordering antibiotics yourself without a prescription. The websites are a bit of a loophole to get them without a vet, so if you can get your dosing right you can treat her yourself. A vet is usually going to be best, though, especially if they know how to treat poultry. Here is another site I’ve seen people get antibiotics from without a prescription, I think you can find Terramycin here, too:

https://allbirdproducts.com/

Let us know how she does.

Hi! I was planning on using a warm cloth to clean the area and then extract the pus. After extraction the pus I wanted to use Neosporin on her eye. I was able to find some ampicillin and was wondering if maybe that could help? I wanted to treat her as quickly as possible, but I wanted a second opinion first. I’m not sure if the saline solution is crucial and the terramycin, it would just take a couple of days to be delivered and I hate to see her in pain

 

[Eggcessive]

Sulfa antibiotics are sulfonamides, a class that treats both gram positive and some gram negative bacteria. Common ones used for chickens are bactrim or trimeth sulfa, SMZ TMP, Albon or sulfadimethoxine, and others. They can treat coryza, coccidiosis, skin infections, and fowl cholera. The old drug Sulmet in older threads on BYC about treating coccidiosis, was a sulfa drug.

 

[Eggcessive]

Most feed stores including TSC sell Terramycin eye ointment, but keep it locked away because of its small size. Saline is sold in any drug store for nasal sprays or eye washes. You can make it at home by adding 2 tsp of salt to a quart of water, bring it to a boil, turn down to a simmer, and heat for 15 minutes which makes it sterile. Cool it and store in a clean jar. It good to flush eyes or clean wounds. I have used Bausch and Lomb Eye Relief Eye Wash for about $4 at Walmart in the eye drop aisle. A warm wet washcloth wrung out works well for a wet compress to soften any eye crust.