Please Help

[JenNiel]

I am a new chicken Mumma and I have a very sick baby, wondering if anyone else has experienced this with their chickens?
She is breathing quite rapidly and her eye is super infected... can someone tell me what I can do until I can get her to the vet.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Welcome To BYC!

Where are you located in the world?
Do you notice if she's coughing, sneezing, has mucous in the nostrils or inside the beak?
Does she have a bad odor?

The eye looks like it has pus in it. Flush with saline, press out any pus and apply an eye ointment in the eye like Terramycin or you can use plain neosporin.

If the cause of the eye swelling is respiratory illness and it's a bacteria like disease (Mycoplasma) an antibiotic like Tylosin can help treat symptoms. For infection due to Coryza, then a Sulfa Drug would be better.

 

[CalBickieMomma]

Oh no! Hope she recovers. I had a sick baby this past spring and it was no fun . Had lots of help from the knowledgeable people here and she’s now a nice, healthy pullet. I second the recommendation of Teramyacin. Used to use it on kittens with gunky eyes and on my dove once (he had something infecting his eye), and it works really well. Good luck and hopefully you can get some better feedback and she starts feeling better soon!

 

[JenNiel]

Thank you so much, where can I get Teramyacin from? I have some Conoptal is this similar?

 

[Shezadandy]

You can also use regular Neosporin (no pain relief ingredients though, just the plain stuff) - check with your local farm supply store too about antibiotic eye ointments.

If there's pus in the eye, it will need to be removed.

Chickens have lids that open vertically like the sliding doors at a supermarket closest to the eye, and then the lids you can easily see that open horizontally. So even if you don't see pus if you hold the outer lids open, it might be behind the first layer - which is why the person working on the barred chicken expressed the eye from front to back instead of up and down.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Thank you so much, where can I get Teramyacin from? I have some Conoptal is this similar?

Are you in the US?

I'm not familiar with Conoptal, maybe @Eggcessive knows more.
Do your research on that product, but the info I find looks like it would be o.k. to use. We are not vets on BYC so use your best judgement.

 

[Eggcessive]

The conoptal may be good to use since it is a bacteriostatic drops. Use it twice a day or as it was prescribed. But clean the gunk out of the eye before using it with warm water or saline. Are you in Australia or NZ?

Did you hatch the chick? Was it pecked in the eye, or do you think it is getting a respiratory infection? Is there any bubbles innthe eye, sneezing, or gasping.

 

[Eggcessive]

Here is some info about the ingredients of conoptal drops:
https://www.petceutics.com.au/prescriptions/conoptal-viscous-eye-drops-3g.html