Swollen eyes and bloody face. Need advice

[drjulian]

Hello:

When I went to the coop tonight I noticed one of my hens’ eyes were swollen shut and face bloody

They are all in a fenced run during the day and in the coop at night.

Can someone advise if there is a disease that looks like this or what else may be going on. She is still laying (you can see an egg beneath her).

Any help would be appreciated. Pictures and specifics below

Here are the requested answers:

• What type of bird, age and weight?– She is about 1 year old and was sold as Plymouth rock chick but she is completely black so I am not sure of the breed. She is slightly smaller than the others her age.
• What is the behavior, exactly? - She is broody and has been for the last month or so but she still attacks me if I try to get her eggs.
• How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms?– I noticed it tonight.
• Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms? – No only her.
• Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma? – This *could* be an injury I am not certain. The other side of her face looks the same but the eye is completely swollen shut.
• What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation? – I did see one other hen peck at her while she was on the nest, but I only observed this once and it was several days ago. That does not mean it is not happening when I am not there
• What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all? – My chickens range in a fenced in run (about 350 sq feet) and are feed Purina Layer Pellets. Since she is broody, I only see her off the nest a short time each day, but when she is off the nest she does eat both pellets and bugs and she drinks. As you can see in the photo, she is still laying,
• How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? – I have not seen any bloody poop or runny poop.
• What has been the treatment you have administered so far? -Nothing I just discovered the situation.
• What is your intent as far as treatment? For example, do you want to treat completely yourself, or do you need help in stabilizing the bird til you can get to a vet? – Our local vets will not treat chickens, so if anything has to be done I would need to do it.
• If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help. – Below
• Describe the housing/bedding in use – They spend the night in a closed coop with pine shavings in the nesting box area and sand in the lower floor as bedding. During the day they are in a fenced in run of about 350 sq feet.
  
  

 

[Anime2lover]

Hello:

When I went to the coop tonight I noticed one of my hens’ eyes were swollen shut and face bloody

They are all in a fenced run during the day and in the coop at night.

Can someone advise if there is a disease that looks like this or what else may be going on. She is still laying (you can see an egg beneath her).

Any help would be appreciated. Pictures and specifics below

Here are the requested answers:

• What type of bird, age and weight?– She is about 1 year old and was sold as Plymouth rock chick but she is completely black so I am not sure of the breed. She is slightly smaller than the others her age.
• What is the behavior, exactly? - She is broody and has been for the last month or so but she still attacks me if I try to get her eggs.
• How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms?– I noticed it tonight.
• Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms? – No only her.
• Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma? – This *could* be an injury I am not certain. The other side of her face looks the same but the eye is completely swollen shut.
• What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation? – I did see one other hen peck at her while she was on the nest, but I only observed this once and it was several days ago. That does not mean it is not happening when I am not there
• What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all? – My chickens range in a fenced in run (about 350 sq feet) and are feed Purina Layer Pellets. Since she is broody, I only see her off the nest a short time each day, but when she is off the nest she does eat both pellets and bugs and she drinks. As you can see in the photo, she is still laying,
• How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? – I have not seen any bloody poop or runny poop.
• What has been the treatment you have administered so far? -Nothing I just discovered the situation.
• What is your intent as far as treatment? For example, do you want to treat completely yourself, or do you need help in stabilizing the bird til you can get to a vet? – Our local vets will not treat chickens, so if anything has to be done I would need to do it.
• If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help. – Below
• Describe the housing/bedding in use – They spend the night in a closed coop with pine shavings in the nesting box area and sand in the lower floor as bedding. During the day they are in a fenced in run of about 350 sq feet.View attachment 2786106View attachment 2786109

Looks to me like she had a fight with someone. Even a peck that doesn't bleed can swell. My poor rooster found that out the hard way. His head looked like a bouncy ball for a week. My suggestion, treat the injuries with any wound treatment you have. I'd give her eye ointment to prevent irritation to the eye from the swelling to. We use eye cream that we had for our dogs.

 

[Banana01]

Poor thing. I've had roosters fight and peck each other nearly dead and bloodied and it didn't look that bad. Unless its some insect problem, the fight you saw the other day probably escalated to this.

But any antibiotic cream like neosporin would hopefully clear it up. Also coconut oil has antibiotic properties that work great for these type of injuries, just not around the eye. The eye needs to be kept clean with saline or just left alone, unless you have some specialized eye product.

Please enclose her nest so she can't be bothered because hopefully she didn't lose an eye this time. If she is meant to be sitting on the eggs then maybe quarantine her with her own seperate food and water, or else keep her off the nest. Id hate to see any more damage if it was a fight.