Swollen eye with no other symptoms has me baffled

[Shrew]

I have one chicken, yes, just one, her name is Charlotte and she is a dark brahma. Her sisters were tragically consumed by the giant mutant opossum that lurks my neighborhood a few months ago. At first she seemed sad, but then she decided she wanted to be a dog and befriended my two terriers as her new flock/pack. She has been doing absolutely wonderfully and has become more pet than poultry.

Today I noticed her left eye was very swollen, and in a state of panic I have searched all the forums, only to find myself utterly baffled. I thought eye worms, but there is nothing in her eye, aside from a very ordinary looking discharge - pale yellowish, but not bubbly. Then I feared coryza, that at best my darling gal would have to be a lone hen forever as a carrier, but again, there are no other symptoms. No puss in the roof of the beak, no lethargy, no nasal discharge...certainly no loss of appetite or annoying charm.

She let me look her over very well. She has a small cut on her beak, the opposite side from her eye, near the cuticle, and a spot of blood on top of her head, from a pulled feather it seems. Maybe she got hung up on something? Poked in the eye? How long after the eye starts to swell can one see worms, or puss in the beak? How long until other symptoms start to show? I worry that while taking the time to wait and see if she injured herself and the swelling will go down on its own, that if she is ill it will get worse beyond recovery.

 

[Eggcessive]

Welcome to BYC. The swelling in the eye with the milky discharge could be MG or coryza, but you can't know for sure without a test. Does her head smell bad as coryza may? You could give her some vitamins with electrolytes and probiotics for a few days and watch her in case it is an injury. Then if symptoms haven't changed, you could give her some oxyteracycline or Gallimycin in her water. I would also put some Terramycin or neosporin ointment in her eye after cleaning it with some saline. Here is a link about common respiratory diseases with symptoms: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044

TSC sells this brand, but you can find others with separate ingredients

 

[Shrew]

Thank you! I called a friend of a friend here in Portland, who also has chickens, and sure enough she has some Gallimycin on hand, so I've got Char's waterer all bleached out and ready for some antibiotics. I happen to have medical saline eye rinse and ophthalmic ointment in my home already, so I will definitely give her some TLC, and first thing in the morning I will be going to the feed store for some electrolytes and probiotics.

I hadn't realized how important Charlotte has become to me, one would have thought I was freaking out over my own child!

...except that my children are not so attentive or well behaved.