Swollen eye, white film

[Hen Pen Jem]

How is your hen doing?

 

[Hwy9fam]

Thanks for thinking of us! She is the same but going to the vet this afternoon. Here are some pictures of the other chickens. They seem to have stuff growing on their faces.

 

[microchick]

Following with interest as I just lost a rooster with an eye that looked exactly like the one pictured.

Tried three different oral antibiotics and antibiotic ointment with no improvement. The eye worsened until it was oozing and he was smearing the drainage everywhere and in obvious pain. I put him down last month after fighting the infection for over two months.

Necropsy showed the eye swollen internally to 12+ mm. I don't know how he lasted as long as he did.

His infection stemmed from fighting with another rooster. No avian vet anywhere near us.

Sure hope your hen heals without problems.

 

[Hen Pen Jem]

Greetings Hwy9fam,

Bacterial infections of the eye usually respond to ophthalmic antibiotic ointments. Stubborn bacterial infections, may also require an additional Broad spectrum antibiotic, oral or IM. But, they too will usually heal.

Sometimes, if infection has been untreated for too long, a dried pussy film may need to be removed. But, this is not as easy as it seems. A novice at this procedure, could injure the chicken's eye. Permanently blinding the chicken or worse.

However, if a fungus has invaded the eye tissue, this requires a completely different course of action.

How do you know what you are dealing with? You don't. We keepers start with the most common disorder first. Normally, it's a common bacterial issue. Virus's can also cause eye infections.

I am glad you are going to see a vet. They need to see the pictures of your other hens, and the black substance on them. Identification of the microbe is needed.


I could not advise you well enough, as, I am just a chicken keeper like you. I have experience with fungal skin infection on my dog, and yeasts on my rooster's comb, and most keepers have, or will deal with yeast in the chickens crop. Fungi/yeasts are just as deadly as any bacteria or virus.

Please update us, so that we can learn from this case.

I am thinking of you and your flock...

And, I will pray that all goes well!

God's Blessings of peace, and good health, to you and your flock.

 

[Eggcessive]

That looks like black tar or oil that is smeared on them, or blood from injury. Is there anything that they could be getting on them in and around the coop or on feeders or waterer?

 

[Hwy9fam]

They do eat plums from our tree, and that looks allot like blood on them.

We didn't gain much from the vet appointment. My husband took her and says the vet wasn't real knowledgable on chickens. She offered a biopsy, which is out of our price range. She also doesn't think the eye is savable; thinks she is blind or will eventually be blind in that eye.
We have just started the colloidal silver in her eye and have sprayed it on their faces where it seems something is growing.
I have also given them vitamins/probiotics/ electrolytes daily. We don't seem to have access to a broad spectrum antibiotic.
I guess that's all we can try for now. I hope they'll be ok. I know our cats vet will do a scraping to look under the microscope, maybe I should ask if they can do that for our chickens....
Thank you all for your advice and support!

 

[Hen Pen Jem]

I don't know what's worse, having no vet, or having a bad vet...

I would ask the vet that cares for your cats, if they could take a look at the substance. If this is fungal, antibiotics won't help. In fact they will kill the good bacteria in the chicken's gut. These good bacteria help fight against fungal/yeast infection. They also keep bad bacteria in check.

When did you notice the chickens with the black substance? Was this after rainy weather?

If you are you sure that the chickens are not getting into something chemical, you can treat this as a fungi. The following, will also help for bacterial infection.

• 2 drops colloidal silver in both eyes, every 2-3 hours, for two days, then 3x a day.
• Administer .3 mL, colloidal silver, orally, to the sickest chicken, 1x, daily.
• Wipe the comb and wattles with a saline solution.
• Then, spray with the colloidal silver.
  
• Sebozole Shampoo, is an anti-fungal and antibacterial, and can be used to bathe chickens, or mix with water in a bowl, and use to wipe down the chickens. Wear gloves when washing chickens, avoid getting soap in eyes, rinse.
• vitamins, probiotics, and electrolytes (you are already doing this, great)
• keep chickens well fed, lots of greens.

Scholarly article on fungal infections in poultry:
https://scialert.net/fulltext/?doi=pjbs.2013.1626.1640

I used the Sebozole Shampoo on two hens that had some strange irritation to the skin on their back and belly. No mites or lice were visible. Two shampoos later, they were feeling great.

You can make your own saline solution at home. Use a syringe to squirt in on the chickens.

 

[microchick]

You can buy fish and bird antibiotics on line on Jeffer's pet, Thomas Labs or even on Ebay. I keep Cipro, Teramycin, Ampicillin and penicillin on hand. There is also an excellent guide on line that lists all the antibiotics and their dosages for chickens.

I have it on good authority (my husband is a retired human eye doctor) that what you are seeing in the hens eye is internal.Your doctor is right. She is blind already in that eye. I wouldn't let anyone scrape that eye. It would just be increasing any pain she is having.

Looking forward to see if the colloidal silver does help your girl. Unfortunately, finding a good avian doc is a challenge for a lot of us.

You might look into calling the nearest Veterinary college and talking to their Avian Medicine or Exotic Medicine doctors. If you have one near by that you can take her to a lot of times they will be more than happy to look at your bird as a teaching tool.

 

[Nicholestewart-graves]

Checking in. I know this was a few years ago but just wondering how the eye is doing? I just found one of my girls eye shut and looking exactly the same wondering what if any of these remedies worked out.