Firstly, you don't know and neither do the people on ER if she has MG.WHAT AM I DOING WRONG?
I love my birds. I do everything in my power to give them the best environment, the best food, enough space & not too many flock mates & still too much stuff is going wrong! It is making me feel terrible. I should be doing better than this! Yet last night I noticed my sweet Alpia had a watery eye. This morning she had full blown bubbles.
I swabbed her eye with warm water with a little betadine diluted in it & immediately separated her from the rest of the flock ~ which did not make her happy @ all! She has been telling me about it all morning.
View attachment 2158367
And boy! Did I get an earful!
She has food & water & some sun in the little coop & the 2nd swab I did, I did with a saline solution while giving her the once over in the Big Coop. Her eye is looking better but I am worried about MG. I have scheduled a vet appointment. She may be going to the mainland with us tomorrow or seeing the vet here on Thursday. I am hoping whatever it was I pulled of the lid was what has caused the problems but this is just the sweetest little hen ever. She is friendly, approachable, easily handled ~ not even a lot of squawking while I dabbed @ her eye! She deserves a long & healthy life ~ the best of everything. Instead I am watching her like a hawk for signs of respiratory illness. Any spare prayers for her health would be appreciated.
And yes, I posted in emergencies & diseases ~ only to have the MG suspicion confirmed.I've caught it early so hopefully that will make the difference.
She has what look like some peck wounds around her eye. MG tends to produce foam rather than bubbles so the watery eye could be a reaction to a peck or foreign object.
I hope your vet is a good one with chickens.
If she does have MG then there is a high probability that some of the others have it to.
If you tell your vet you suspect MG then a disinterested vet will set about treating for MG rather than taking all the symptoms into account.
What was it you pulled from her lid and whereabouts was it?
My reasoning would be it was whatever it was is the probable cause. I would be looking into that rather than letting the ER drama crew make you an emotional wreck.
Don't use saline solution for cleaning a chickens eye. Chickens do not have a water based cleaning system. They are oil based including the eye lubricant. Clean the eye with PH neutral water. Human eye bath solutions are generally okay.
Don't put Betadine in the eye. On the lid is just about okay.
No matter what is wrong with a chicken, the advice here is always to separate it. This is bad advice imo and the opinion of vets here where I live. Separation seems to be an American thing.
The thing that is most likely to make a moderately sick chicken a lot worse is stress!
Chickens like to be with their flock.
In the case of infectious desieses in small contained flocks the probability that it has been passed on by the time you are aware of the problem is so high that separation is pointless.
Look for eye care stuff on the mainland while you're there if you don't already have some.
I don't think and hope it isn't MG given your account. If it is then there are treatments but as you know now, they will be carriers for life.
Good luck Ribh.
The plus is they come to the island so less stress for the chicken. There isn't an avian vet around here so I will hope for the best. It's why I usually try & manage myself. No point getting advice from someone as clueless as I am.
