Quote: Hope this hatch does a whole lot better for you! Good Luck!
HELP ME PLEASE!!! Ok I know I'm in the wrong thread but you are my friends and y'all are so so intelligent and knowledgeable. I just noticed that my black australorp,Wilson(who is raising three chicks),has an eye issue. Her right eye is swollen shut. And all around it is super swollen. I gently,with clean hands,opened the lid to see if her eye was actually gone,or still in there. Thankfully,it is inside and looks good. But when I opened it,a bit of clear liquid and puss is in there. Also I saw like a pus blob? Idk if it's actually something else that causing her irritation. Or if this is the result of an infection. I believe she's also got a bit of pus coming from her nostrils. It's dry but yellow. This is all recent!!!!! Help me help her! And protect the flock. I've got an antibiotic on hand labeled:Oxytetracycline HCI. Soluable powder. I've also got some penicillin capsules. For human use. I have a feed store very close if I need to get anything else. Opens tomorrow. Should I try a warm compress too? To help soothe,relieve pain,discomfort and itching??? Oh if I'd just stop typing and send this thing I'd get some awesome help and stop being a worry wart mama!!!!!! Oh God please protect my baby.
Wilson has a sinus infection. Wild birds shed the germs when the visit the feeders and waters shared by the chickens. Can't say for sure that birds that survive become carriers. I usually have one or two cases a year, but I have over 50 adult chickens and often 100 juveniles each year.
The watery eye and nasal discharge are the first symptoms, then the pus closes the eye and accumulates under the lids. A chicken actually has two sets of eyelids. So it is difficult to get the gunk out. It can attach to the eye and cause blindness in the eye. A chicken cannot blow it's nose. It is contagious. Both by sneezing and scratching the eye and then by sleeping with the head under her wing, she can shed the germs to those who sleep near her. Breathing will become labored and the sinus will swell around the eye and inside the mouth similar to tonsils in humans. I have also learned how to surgically open the bulging sinus under the eye and clean out the accumulation. Saline and Neosporin helps.
When I find a bird that is beginning to show symptoms, I isolate the bird and begin giving FishBiotics Cephalexin. If the bird can swallow, I give the gelcap after dipping it in water to make it slippery and massage the throat to get the pil into the crop. If not, then I open the gelcap, mix the dry powder in a little water and use a syringe without a needle to drip the mixture in the birds mouth. The pills are 250 mg. A Bantam gets one pill a day, while a large bird like an Australorp can take two...in separate doses. It usually takes 3 to 5 days of doses to help get the bird over it. Make sure the bird has plenty of water and food...I give medicated broiler starter with some cracked corn. You may actually need to give her water thru the syringe and make little soft pellets of feed and feed her by hand. When the bird is improving, I offer a little yogurt to help improve the gut.
In the meantime, you will definitely want to treat the rest of Wilson's flock mates. Wazine in the water is helpful. I prefer Denagard or Gallimycin. Also, Oxytetracycline can be offered as an alternative.
Years ago I actually had a Cochin rooster who had surgery to remove the hardened cottage cheese accumulation. Popeye lost his sight in the eye, but lived a productive life.
. I think I will leave that one to just chick eggs. 
