Question about Lola's eye

[ClaudetteG]

So my 4 year old daughter came running in from the coop to tell me the Lola has no eye! Upon further inspection, she does indeed have both eyes, but one iis covered by ...something. Is this her eyelid? After observing her for a bit, I did see it open and saw her intact eye beneath.however, I'm not sure what is causing this maybe just an irritation or maybe got pecked in the eye? Any advice is welcome since we are new chicken keepers. Also we don't have a vet that treats chickens so we have to do what we can ourselves. If it helps, she is a 10 week old black Australorp. She was fine yesterday. Thanks!!!

 

[Eggcessive]

Does it seem like her nictitating membrane, the third eyelid that is opaque and sometimes covers the eye from front to back, or does it seem like pus covering the eye? With an eye infection from an injury or from a respiratory disease such as MG, there can be pus covering the eye. You may want to sit her on your lap with a towel, and try to wipe off the eye with a warm compress if it looks like goo in her eye. Also take a good whiff of her head for a bad odor if it looks like infection. Look for any nasal drainage or chest rattles. Here are some links to read about the nictitating membrane, and another on respiratory diseases such as MG and coryza:
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2013/05/chicken-anatomy-nictitating-membrane.html
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044

 

[ClaudetteG]

Thanks! It does seem like the membrane is covering it, I saw it move a few times and expose the eye underneath. I'm just about to isolate her and I piked up some saline solution and antibiotic ointment. I'm going to wait and see; I'm not home during the day so I'm not sure if she off her food/water. It's going to be chilly tonight so I'm moving her in a crate in the basement. I guess I'll see how it goes...any other advice is greatly appreciated!