Swollen eye

[romahunter]

My 4 month old Dominique has a swollen eye. It began very gradually with just a slight color change in the skin around the eye. This was about 4-4.5 weeks ago. The change was so gradual that I initially attributed it to her growing up and the skin around her face reddening. Then 3 weeks ago the swelling and redness became pronounced, so I began treating her with terramycin ointment. The feed store where I bought the ointment told me to administer once per day and I have done so for the most part, with 3 skipped days that were out of my control (long story). There has been improvement, but it is still not healed. She's been on terramycin for 3 weeks now.

So here's a summary of what I see:
- swelling and redness around eye
- right eye only, left seems normal
- no discharge and the eye itself looks normal
- doesn't seem to bother her. I don't see scratching.
- she is eating and drinking and acting pretty normal
- she is free ranging during the day and interacting with the other chickens
- she has been in contact with the rest of the flock (5 others her age) and none have these symptoms
- she does seem a little smaller than the other chickens. Not sure if this is due to her illness or whether this is her normal size. The size difference is slight and the other chickens are different breeds
- we live in Massachusetts

The first photo (top left) was taken 3 weeks ago when the infection was at it's worst. The others were taken today and I include a photo of her left healthy eye for comparison.

My questions:
- Does this seem like an eye infection?
- Am I treating correctly? Terramycin 1 x per day
- Should I be doing anything else?
- Curious if anyone has experienced anything similar.
- Is it normal to take this long to clear up?

 

[Eggcessive]

I don't think she looks bad, and is probably getting over her respiratory infection. Did she ever have bubbles or foam in the eye, any nasal drainage, or a cough or sneeze when she was sickest? Those and a swollen eyelid or face can be signs of mycoplasma or MG. Terramycin can be used 2-4 times a day, according to the label instructions, but twice a day is plenty if she isn't having a lot of goop from the eye that needs cleaning out. I would think that it has been used long enough by now. She sounds like that she is getting better, and I would give her some probiotics or a tiny bit of plain yogurt if they are not already in her feed. Make sure that she is eating and drinking well, and some occasional treats of chopped egg, tuna, or liver can add protein and vitamins.

 

[romahunter]

I don't think she looks bad, and is probably getting over her respiratory infection. Did she ever have bubbles or foam in the eye, any nasal drainage, or a cough or sneeze when she was sickest? Those and a swollen eyelid or face can be signs of mycoplasma or MG. Terramycin can be used 2-4 times a day, according to the label instructions, but twice a day is plenty if she isn't having a lot of goop from the eye that needs cleaning out. I would think that it has been used long enough by now. She sounds like that she is getting better, and I would give her some probiotics or a tiny bit of plain yogurt if they are not already in her feed. Make sure that she is eating and drinking well, and some occasional treats of chopped egg, tuna, or liver can add protein and vitamins.

No it is not bad. Never was bad. The first photo posted is how it looked at it's worst. And there was never any discharge nor could I detect a respiratory infection. But it just have not gotten back to normal.

As for application, I had to leave town and a neighbor who has experience with chickens applied the ointment for the first week. He said after 5 days it looked normal and stopped. Then when I came home, I saw it and didn't think it looked normal. SO I don't have confidence in how well he administered. Or maybe he stopped too soon. Or maybe 1x per day wasn't enough.

I'll heed your recommendations. I was considering isolating her just so I can monitor her more closely, but I think it could stress her out more. My chickens are spoiled and like roaming around the property together.

 

[Eggcessive]

I would not separate her. Unless she has eye drainage or gunk now, she shouldn't need the Terramycin anymore. The swelling around the eye may just need some time to go down. It won't kill her to keep using it, but probably not necessary.

 

[romahunter]

I would not separate her. Unless she has eye drainage or gunk now, she shouldn't need the Terramycin anymore. The swelling around the eye may just need some time to go down. It won't kill her to keep using it, but probably not necessary.

I was wondering about taking time for the swelling going down. These are my first chickens so I don't have a sense of healing time. I was even thinking that perhaps the ointment was causing more dirt to adhere or maybe she scratched it more, though I never noticed her scratching obsessively, just an occasional scratch.

She is getting increasingly stressed out about getting handled and fighting me more. Maybe this stress is not good for her either. She is a lot more cautious with me than she was before. Will come over when called, but more tentatively, and will get close, but definitely is more wary of any movement of my hands. Hope she gets over this.

Thank you for your feedback.