Sick Chicken, Please Help, Nothing is Working

[Eggcessive]

Can you repeat the warm saline eye compresses, just to keep the crust from forming? Terramycin eye ointment from the feed store (and I have even used plain triple antibiotic ointment in my chicken once) given twice a day may help the hen if there is a bacterial infection. Can you place her in a crate near the other chickens in order to see if she will eat and drink better? If you lose her or decide to cull, here is some info on necropsy in MO:

Missouri Department of Agriculture
Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory P.O. Box 2510
701 North Miller Avenue
Springfield, MO 65802 Phone: (417) 895-6861
Fax: (417) 831-4766
Missouri Department of Agriculture
Animal Health Laboratory 216 El Mercado Plaza
Jefferson City, MO 65109 Phone: (573) 751-3460
Fax: (573) 751-5279
School of Veterinary Medicine
Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory University of Missouri
P.O. Box 6023
Columbia, MO 65205 Phone: (573) 882-6811
Fax: (573) 882-1411​

 

[slm118]

She doesn't have a problem eating and drinking. She hasn't lost her appetite through the entire ordeal. She'll eat anything you give her, she just doesn't seem interested in ranging around in the yard but I suspect that's because she can't see out of one eye and can't stand up straight. I haven't seen teramycin. I can try triple antibiotic. I feel, at this point, that this surely isn't a bacterial issue. Otherwise surely to god between the Tylan and the cephalexin and the literal 3+ weeks that have passed, she would've gotten better. I just don't know. This is super frustrating.

 

[Eggcessive]

Is she looking any better with the eye? Feed stores don't always put Terramycin eye ointment out on the shelf; you usually have to ask a clerk for it.

 

[slm118]

The eye...it's hard to explain. It's like the secretion kind of dried into a blinder that's over, but not touching, her eyeball. I think a piece of wood chip got stuck to the eye goop and dried there. I've been using a warm wet rag to try and loosen it, but it's slow going because I don't want to pull on it and she gets very squirmy very quickly. I'm putting triple antibiotic on the eye now.

Newest symptom, picked her up today and she's shedding dry skin REALLY bad.

I started putting vitamins and electrolytes in her water yesterday. She's not getting any medication now other than triple antibiotic on her eye. Still eating very well. Still has very little balance.

 

[Louise Waffles]

The eye...it's hard to explain. It's like the secretion kind of dried into a blinder that's over, but not touching, her eyeball. I think a piece of wood chip got stuck to the eye goop and dried there. I've been using a warm wet rag to try and loosen it, but it's slow going because I don't want to pull on it and she gets very squirmy very quickly. I'm putting triple antibiotic on the eye now.

Newest symptom, picked her up today and she's shedding dry skin REALLY bad.

I started putting vitamins and electrolytes in her water yesterday. She's not getting any medication now other than triple antibiotic on her eye. Still eating very well. Still has very little balance.

I think you need to get that stuff off of her eye. Soften with a warm washcloth, and get it out. It's icky to do, but it's got to be uncomfortable to her. When keeping chickens, you just have to do awful, uncomfortable things to help them feel better. If you wrap her in a towel, lay her on her side, and have a second pair of hands to help, it will be easier.

 

[Eggcessive]

I agree that I would try to get the material out of her eye. I have seen some pictures where a yellow or white scab has covered the surface of the eye, which is usually a pus plaque from infection. I would pore saline into her eye and use a warm wet compress for awhile while holding her in your lap on a towel. The use tweezers or a manicure type tool or QTips to get it out. If you want to post a picture, that would help. Try some fish oil capsules in her feed for the dry skin. Poultry vitamins might also help, but she could be growing new feathers which tends to cause flaking. Have a look to make sure it isn't lice eggs though.