Please Help-- Chicken with swollen eye- is she sick?

[Crest Acres Girl]

OK just in case, disinfect the water dish and the food dish please...better be safe than sorry.

Use a bleach and water solution to scrub everything down, change the bedding if you can. Take out anything you see poo on it and scrub it down with bleach and water solution.

Grab spray bottle and spray everything down. I mean REALLY disinfect the coop. Put a few pieces of garlic in your chicken's water supply to boost their immune system. Take some oranges, lemons, limes cut into pieces and feed those to your chickens too or get some vitamin C crush it and mix it with their food (not water) and hope it doesn't get it.

Infectious Coryza is extremely hard to cure and very hard to get out of the soil and wherever the infected chicken has been so lets pray and hope that's not it.

Something everyone should know is if things like this happen, you can always contact your State Agricultural Department or State Veterinarian. Their services are mostly free to small backyard flock owners.

Good Luck
of the services offered by the State are free to small back yard
flock owners.

 

[ShadyGlade]

"It is amazing how much you can get done at night. I even get to pet my Guineas at roost."
This tickled my funny bone. The visual that provoked was priceless. Thank you for the unexpected chuckle rimshoes.

I don't think that you are a 'total hypochondriac with your animals' noisycottage. You sound like an observant and responsible owner. I hope that this crisis is a minor one for you and your birds. Whenever one of mine has odd behavior or an illness I worry (and exercise my imagination) also. It's simply scary the devastation that germs can inflict despite our best efforts. I wish you luck.

 

[noisycottage]

I spent the weekend watching our chicken.
Thanks to your advice, she has been isolated. She now has more lesions on her face and we have identified it (ourselves) as dry pox. We went to the feed store where we bought antibiotics for her water and in ointment form for her eye.
We also bleached out the feeder, water bucket and hen house. We sprinkled lyme on the hen yard (since due to the new grass coming in, they are confined) and in the hen house and laying nest before we added the fresh bedding.
We then vaccinated the healthy looking hens and the sick one since sometimes that can work if the illness hasn't progressed too far.
We have our fingers crossed.
We can't find information on whether we should find her a new home once she recovers or whether we should put her back with her flock.
We do know we have to check under their wings for swelling and proof that the vaccines worked.
THANK YOU ALL!!!! I was really freaking out and now I am more relaxed. This is a GREAT forum!

Edited to add: We spoke to several people who keep chickens and consulted a book that is specifically about chicken health. All of what we read points to dry pox. We are still looking for a vet somewhere in the area who can take a look at her. Until then, she is on her recommended dose of antibiotics and isolated from the other hens.

 

[FlightsofFancy]

OK....I am not very experienced with poultry disease, but I am working with my local poultry lab and a large Poultry Producer to learn. This is what I have been told.....
Any upper resp infection will show the same symptoms as the more serious diseases. That puffy eye is telling you that that she has a upper resp infection and it could be any thing from general irritation, IB, Coryza, LT, Cholera, Mycoplasma, Pox and the list goes on. They have said the BEST way to medicate a sick bird is with an antibiotic injection in the breast muscle. Sounds horrible, but really very simple.
Do you have a Poultry lab in your area? They will provide the equipment for blood tests (This is a must to know for SURE what you have) and run the tests for free. Mine, here in GA will even give you the meds for FREE! If you loose a bird, bag it and put it in a cooler w/ ice until you can get it to the Poultry lab for necropsy.
You can Google "Poultry Lab" or "Poultry Extension" in your area.
IMHO: Guessing at the disease could waste valuable time, so know for sure what you are dealing with and treat it with the appropriate antibiotic.
Good luck!! I hope you have a full recovery!!