Should I be worried?

[Eggcessive]

Eye bubbles and swelling around the eye or face can be a sigh of MG, a respiratory disease. Tylosin, tetracyclines, Denagard, or enrofloxacin are some antibiotics that may possibly treat it. I would use a warm wet compress to the eye to soak of any crusty drainage. Apply the eye ointment twice a day.

 

[TJAnonymous]

Are any of those available over the counter? I might have some tetracycline. I will look shortly. Should I use neosporin on the eye? Or keep using the neomycin? I also have tobramycin which is another antibiotic eye drop.

Is MG contagious? Nm... I just looked it up. Doesn't look good. It says it can be transferred to offspring through eggs so if it is MG, I wonder if she got it from her mama? This hen was hatched in an incubator from some hatching eggs I purchased off eBay.

I will definitely find a way to get her tested to find out. She doesn't seem to be in respiratory distress. No wheezing or anything.

 

[TJAnonymous]

I reached out to the poultry department at the University of Arkansas. They have helped me in the past by talking me through a necropsy, etc. They should be able to tell me how or where to have her tested. If it is MG, I will probably have to cull all my birds....

 

[Aunt Angus]

The symptoms can be treated with antibiotics. You don't have to cull them if they are pets. You can lock down your flock - no new birds, no visiting chicken owners, etc. Birds can survive, but they'll always carry MG for the rest of their lives. They may have flare ups, but it's not an automatic death sentence.

 

[TJAnonymous]

The symptoms can be treated with antibiotics. You don't have to cull them if they are pets. You can lock down your flock - no new birds, no visiting chicken owners, etc. Birds can survive, but they'll always carry MG for the rest of their lives. They may have flare ups, but it's not an automatic death sentence.

Well I suppose the positive side is that I don't sell chicks or hatching eggs, etc. I also don't have any chicken owners who visit.... But I'm still not sure if it even IS MG or not. Haven't heard back from U of A yet on testing for a positive diagnosis.

The other good news is that my CCLB hen is improved today. Swelling is down by half and I can actually see her eyeball now! I couldn't see it at all yesterday even when pulling down on her eyelid. I have also confirmed that she has worms. I have some Fenbendazol that is specific for chickens but it is in pill form.... Has anyone ever gotten their SICK chicken to eat a pill? And it's a big capsule... Not a small pill. I went ahead and dumped the powder from the capsule into some bread. We'll see if she eats it. If not, I can always switch to the Safeguard liquid. Anyone have a guess on what this worm might be?

 

[Aunt Angus]

Ew. Maybe a roundworm?

 

[TJAnonymous]

Ew. Maybe a roundworm?

Yeah, gross. She wouldn't eat the bread so I poured the contents of the capsule into a tiny bit of water and forced it into her with an eye dropper. The bottle says you can treat for 3 consecutive days for severe cases so that's what I'm going to do. I want to make sure she is eating again before I put her back with the flock. I also treated Splash with the Fenbendazol. Splash has also been treated with a bit of Pour-on Ivermectin a couple of days ago.

I will treat the rest of the flock tomorrow night. Supposed to storm tonight so I can't do it tonight. But at least now I've got a better idea of what is making the girls sick. I guess I need to worm more often than I was doing before. Honestly this is the first time I've ever seen worms in their poop

 

[Aunt Angus]

Yeah, gross. She wouldn't eat the bread so I poured the contents of the capsule into a tiny bit of water and forced it into her with an eye dropper. The bottle says you can treat for 3 consecutive days for severe cases so that's what I'm going to do. I want to make sure she is eating again before I put her back with the flock. I also treated Splash with the Fenbendazol. Splash has also been treated with a bit of Pour-on Ivermectin a couple of days ago.

I will treat the rest of the flock tomorrow night. Supposed to storm tonight so I can't do it tonight. But at least now I've got a better idea of what is making the girls sick. I guess I need to worm more often than I was doing before. Honestly this is the first time I've ever seen worms in their poop

It's amazing that you saw it - especially given how many chickens you've got.

 

[Aunt Angus]

And I haven't even not gotten pills into chickens who AREN'T sick, tbh! I usually make a suspension, like you did. I know that can't be tasty....

 

[TJAnonymous]

And I haven't even not gotten pills into chickens who AREN'T sick, tbh! I usually make a suspension, like you did. I know that can't be tasty....

I would like someone from the company to explain to me how they think a chicken is going to eat a human sized capsule? Willingly... Not to mention a potential choking hazard....