Swollen eyes

[CheetoFactor]

Hi all, this month I moved to a new place and inherited 10 chicks and a rooster.

One of the chickens (the black one) has had a swollen eye since I moved in and has a fair bit of poo stuck in her rear end feathers.

Yesterday I noticed another chicken's eyes was starting to swell too, and today it was worse.

I have attached some pics. Any ideas what could be wrong with them?

 

[Stipenvlerk]

Hi CheetoFactor, Welcome to BYC!
That's some serious swelling! is the Vet an option?
@Eggcessive would you be able to advice this new chickenowner?

 

[Eggcessive]

Welcome. Does either chicken have a bad odor from the face? Mycoplasma gallisepticum and infectious coryza are both chronic respiratory diseases that cause sinus infection and conjunctivitis. Coryza is a bit worse and usually smells bad. The usual treatment is to press out the press from around the eyelids, and flush the eye with saline or eye wash. First though, you can soften the eye good with a warm wet compress held over the eye for a bit. Then you can apply some Terramycin eye ointment into the eye twice a day. MG is treated with certain antibiotics including Tylosin powder in the water, Denagard, and oxytetracycline. Coryza is treated with sulfadimethoxine, Albon, and other sulfa drugs.

 

[CheetoFactor]

I couldn't smell anything bad.

The brown hen's other eye is starting to swell too, and the pupil isn't round. First time handling the black one and she is very underweight - very sharp breastbone.

I will have to call the vet. I live in New Zealand and antibiotics aren't available OTC.

Thanks

 

[Eggcessive]

The newest eye picture looks abnormal. It could be the ocular form of Mareks disease or the eye has been pecked and damaged in the past. They do seen to have a respiratory or sinus infection. Do the chickens seem to peck each other or fight? How much room do they have? I would try to work on expressing some pus from around the eyes. Saline is fairly easy to get for eye wash. I am going to post a couple of graphic links about removing pus from around the eye:

 

[Eggcessive]

Can you see the brown hen’s left eye or get a picture with the left eye open to see if it looks similar to the right?