Swelling around the eye of our Frizzle will not go away

[Central Florida]

We had the cold flu run through our small flock a few months ago resulting in us losing our two younger chicks. The few older chicks we have left have all been over it for probably almost 2 months except one of our girls still has swelling around one eye. She is about a year old and is laying everyday and seems very healthy but the swelling in the eye just will not go down. We have put eye drops which seemed to clear the eye itself but never really helped the fluid build up

Any suggestions? Could this cause other issues if not corrected?

Thanks

 

[dlhunicorn]

there is no "cold" .... there are different respiratory infections (MG...infectious bronchitis to name just two common ones)
Birds rarely have "" fluid buildup" as in birds it is a more solid mass that needs manual expulsion > flush the eye with sterile saline and then use an opthamolic gel daily and while gently applying that to the eye I would not be surprised if that gentle pressure doesn't expel this more solid substance...
if the opthamolic ointment and saline work without you seeing the above then it is simply inflammation (but in all likelyhood you will see the more solid type of substance coming out of the eye > just rinse/wipe away and it should clear up)
give three drops of Polyvisol enfamil (no iron) in beak once a day for a week and then taper off the next (this is a childrens liquid A-B-D vitamin) as vit A deficiency is often involved and will present with eye symptoms >this will take care of that

 

[Central Florida]

I should have been more specific but we were fairly certain is was Coryza they all had. Where would we get the opthamolic ointment from?

Thanks

 

[dlhunicorn]

ahhhh ... that explains a lot then...
Jeffers... First State Vet Supply (who has an excellent one btw)
be sure to flush out copiously with the sterile saline first then apply just as you would a human or a dog or whatever , closing the eye gently to spread it around a bit (this gentle pressure should expel the gunk that has built up)

 

[Central Florida]

Let me confirm we should massage back towards the eye so this substance can be wiped away?

 

[dlhunicorn]

I wouldn't "massage" it but yes... with a moistened (saline) wipe (cotton ball soaked in sterile saline) when flushing or when applying the antibiotic opthamalic gel....

 

[Central Florida]

We have been trying to flush the eye and using salve and it's not improving at all. If you put pressure on the swelling some clear fluid will come out either the eye or nose but it doesn't seem to reduce the size of the swelling at all. I would say at this point the swelling is about a half an inch long and sticks out a good quarter of an inch. We are very concerned. Any other suggestions.

Thanks

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Open her beak WIDE and look at teh top of her mouth. There is a slit there. Chances are that that it is "congested" with mucous, whick is backing up into the hen's sinuses (which is where you are seeing the swelling). You can use a qtip to swab out as much mucous as possible. Any yellow or white cheesy substance need to come out, as well as any liquid mucous. She will NOT like this procedure, so be forwarned and wrap her body and feet in a towel so that you can better handle her. As you swab out matter, you may find that some exits the nostril and/or the eye. Wipe that away, too. You can stroke down along the external swelling to try to move some of the mucous down the nasal passage. Get as much out as you can, but it may take more than one try to get it all.

Give a nasal flush with eiter tylan 50 or oxine afterwards. I think the mix-rate for making the flush is in one of the recent threads--you can search on nasal flush and find it.

 

[Central Florida]

I have searched and can not seem to find a thread on how to make a saline flush or oxine flush. Can anyone help?

Thanks