Swollen eye and shaking of head

[AbiAsh]

So we took my 18ish week old hen to the vets this morning after finding her with a swollen eye. The eye is closed due to the swelling. They examined her and said they couldn’t see any signs of infection and she was healthy looking and it may have been the case she’s been pecked in it. We’ve had her inside all day and she’s since stated shaking her head a lot and it sounds odd. The swelling has gone down but the eye is still closed. Any ideas? Thanks in advance

 

[Wyorp Rock]

So we took my 18ish week old hen to the vets this morning after finding her with a swollen eye. The eye is closed due to the swelling. They examined her and said they couldn’t see any signs of infection and she was healthy looking and it may have been the case she’s been pecked in it. We’ve had her inside all day and she’s since stated shaking her head a lot and it sounds odd. The swelling has gone down but the eye is still closed. Any ideas? Thanks in advance

Welcome To BYC!

Can you open the eye - is there pus in it?
You mention the shaking of her head sounds odd - what does that mean? Can you get a video of it? (for video, upload to youtube and provide a link)

Where are you located in the world?
What did the vet do - clean out the eye? What's the prescribed course of treatment?
Can you look inside the beak for any lesions, pus or mucous?

 

[AbiAsh]

Hi,

Thanks for replying. I’m in the UK. So the vet cleaned the eye out with saline and couldn’t find anything else wrong with her. Sent is home and told us to keep her separate from the rest of the girls. That was Thursday.
Her eye has gradually opened and the swelling almost gone. This shaking of the head with a funny kind of slapping Noise has carried on though. I’ve google it and it says it could be a respiratory infection and I’ve been keeping an eye on her for leaking nostrils etc but nothing. This morning however I’ve gone out to check the other girls and my older hen sounds awful and her nostrils all clogged up. I’ve cleaned them out and separated her and contacted the vets again. Just waiting for a call back as it’s out of hours.
If they have a respiratory infection and all need medication to clear it, will we be able to eat their eggs after? Or are they useless ?
Thanks

Abi

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Glad you have a call back in to the vet.

Sounds like you are dealing with a respiratory disease. Hopefully the vet can take some swabs and determine which one.

If your vet prescribes medication, they can tell you about egg withdrawal times - ask them, that's their line of business.

 

[AbiAsh]

This is the 3rd chicken now that sounds like this out of 4!

 

[ChickenMamaLissa]

I’ll be interested to hear your vet’s response. I’ve been dealing with an adult chicken with very similar symptoms; one side of her face swollen and an eye closed with clear discharge, and that same gurgling, rasping breath. She’s finally starting to recover but I found one of my new pullets dead a couple days ago with no sign of any problems. (Her nares and eyes were clean and she hadn’t shown any respiratory distress). I suspect coryza, but without a local vet who sees chickens, I may never have any real answers.

 

[bikergirl]

I’m guessing your vets never dealt with chickens before? Most times a swollen face indicates respiratory infection

 

[Eggcessive]

Have you added any new birds recently? Some of the respiratory diseases are infectious bronchitis, mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG,) coryza, ILT, and aspergillosis. The symptoms sound like MG, but it might be coryza. I would get an antibiotic from your vet, and treat the ones with symptoms only. Testing would be good also. Close your flock to new birds, since they may all be carriers for life. Here is a good link about diseases and symptoms:
https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044

 

[Wyorp Rock]

This is the 3rd chicken now that sounds like this out of 4!

Poor girl!
Hopefully your vet can recognize it.
That gasping is concerning for sure. Could be Mycoplasma, Infectious Bronchitis or a few other respiratory diseases. Getting some testing can help them determine what you are dealing with.

Since you are in the UK, your vet will need to give you medications.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I’ll be interested to hear your vet’s response. I’ve been dealing with an adult chicken with very similar symptoms; one side of her face swollen and an eye closed with clear discharge, and that same gurgling, rasping breath. She’s finally starting to recover but I found one of my new pullets dead a couple days ago with no sign of any problems. (Her nares and eyes were clean and she hadn’t shown any respiratory distress). I suspect coryza, but without a local vet who sees chickens, I may never have any real answers.

@ChickenMamaLissa Welcome To BYC.
I'm sorry no one answered your own thread. There are so many right now, it may have been missed. We'll take a look at it for you. Here's a link to your thread https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...y-distress-sour-crop-and-swollen-eye.1366343/