Please help! My Silkie chick has a swollen, pussy eye! What do I do?

[Picklestix7866]

Hi! One of my little Silkie chicks has a swollen, icky, pussy eye. It's not completely crusted over, but it is almost swollen shut. The other eye is watering, but it is not crusted or pussy yet. It almost looks like one of the other chicks was picking on him. He is about a week old.

What do I do? I'm going to try to separate the smaller chicks from the older chicks tomorrow (if possible). They span in age from a few days to two weeks. I just got them a few days ago. I;m taking my dog to the vet tomorrow for his shots, so if there is any sort of antibiotic that I should get, please tell me. I can't spend a whole ton on a chick, so please be realistic.

He's not blind. He could see my hand when I was waving it in front of him.

 

[PurpleChicken]

Chicks will get infections in there eyes from various things.

Seperate immediately although the other chicks have already been
exposed. Put some apple cider vinegar in the chicks water and
some vitamins too.

Start by reading this thread and the links.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=113931

 

[Picklestix7866]

Does anyone else here have an opinion? Or advice? Please help!

 

[thebritt]

A warm water compress (in this case made with scraps of a clean old T-shirt so you can keep using clean scraps) is almos always a good place to start with eye troubles. There is an heb called "eyebright". I'll quote info from an herb book that I've found invaluable: "EYEBRIGHT (Euphrasia officinalis. Scrophulariaceae) The plant is plentiful in pastures and meadows. Distinguished by its tiny growth. and miniature, solitary, white flowerets, tinged with purple, and marked with a yellow eye. The name of the plant is derived from its remarkable eye restorative powers even curing blindness in many cases. The whole plant is also nervine, tonic, and astringent. Its use is both external and internal, strengthening greatly the eye nerves when so used. The high potassium and sulfur content of the plant make it also of value in treatment of gastric ailments, especially insufficiency of gastric juices. USE; tREATMENT OF WEAK AND INFLAMED EYES, KERATITIS, CONJUNCTIVITIS, ULCERS. Also all gastric disorders.
DOSE: One handful brewed in one pint of water. Give internally in morning and night. Use the brew also for external bathing of the eyes"
(From "The Complete Herbal Handbook of Farm and Stable" by Juliette de Baircli Levy) I've tried the brew as an eyewash on a rooster with one blind eye (due to injury) and an injured other eye. He was essentially blind, and the second eye conpletely recovered. Of course, I also used Terramycin ointment, so there's no telling what actually worked in his case. I'm pretty sure you can't go wrong if you can find eyebright. If no fresh herbs are available, check an herb store. Good luck.

 

[sussexgal]

talk to your vet about some opthamalic antibiotic ointment... try that. If the chick has been pecked in the eye, it could be bacterial. Less likely is fungal.... separate out the infected chick from the others on the chance it's contagious and not from a good beaking. Good luck.

 

[Picklestix7866]

I just thought that I would update this thread by saying that I cleaned it out yesterday with a cotton ball and he is on the mend. He looks almost completely back to normal again. Yah!

 

[abluechipstock]

you can get terramycin eye ointment at tsc

 

[Picklestix7866]

Quote:
What is tsc? And how expensive is it?

 

[sussexgal]

Tractor Supply = it's a chain store that's farm oriented...