Swollen eye!

[Chargermike14]

We ordered some chicks online about 6 weeks ago. 3 different breeds. They have been doing fine until one of the breeds (Wellsummer) eyes started swelling up. Just on one side so far. Any ideas what would cause this and how to treat it?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

The swelling could be from a number of things from injury/peck, getting debris in the eye to respiratory disease.
General care for eye swelling would be to flush the eye well with saline, look in the eye for anything in there (food, debris, seed(s), pus, etc.) and remove the matter, apply an eye ointment like Terramycin or some use plain Neosporin.

Hopefully she has something stuck in the eye or possibly got pecked. Respiratory disease is always a possibility so monitor her for any other symptoms.

If you find pus in the eye, it will need to be removed, it will not dry up on it's own. The 2 videos below may be helpful.

 

[Eggcessive]

Did you get them from a hatchery or a breeder? How old are they now?

 

[Chargermike14]

From a hatchery. About 6 weeks old.

 

[Chargermike14]

We have a total of 10 and 5 of them have developed this eye swelling.

 

[Eggcessive]

Do you have other poultry, or are these your only chickens? If so, I would notify the hatchery and ask if there have been any reports like yours. It would be rare to get baby chicks who develop a respiratory infection or MG if they or you have not been around other poultry. It can be transmitted by wild birds if they have access to your coop, feed, and waterers. Hopefully, this swelling is from pecking. Do you see any bubbles in an eye? If you could get Tylan (tylosin) from a local vet on Monday, that could be used in the water, in case they have mycoplasma or MG. Here is a link for tylosin powder, but they sometimes are out of stock:
https://www.jedds.com/shop/tylan-soluble-100-g/

 

[Chargermike14]

We have others that we’ve raised ourselves that don’t have the issue. Will contact the breeder.