I have a pullet with a torn lower eyelid. At first I thought it was from a stick or something she ran into but now I suspect my younger rooster pecked her eye. She has been in a cage for over a week so I can treat her, although I suspect she will be blind in that eye, and we were going to let her out for a bit while the weather was nice. My younger rooster came running over to visit and then he tried to peck her good eye! She had to go right back into isolation because I don't want her to get pecked on.
I have been flushing the eye with saline solution and then using Vetericyn opthalmic gel to keep the eye as clean and soothed as possible while also treating her with penicillin for infection (she has been on the antibiotic for over a week now). She still gets some white goopy discharge in the eye and some drainage into her sinus but she is improving. I had been tempted to try putting in a suture to keep the eyelid from sagging but I would have had to scrape the edges to get them to fuse and I was concerned about using too many sharp objects to repair the eyelid if there was a chance it would heal without surgery. There is nice tissue growth in the V shaped tear so I think it will fill in and she will be able to close her eye tight to protect the eyeball from dust but it will take time.
I noticed the torn eyelid because the hen had a swollen eye with white discharge. I have actually removed some semi-solid clumps of pus that I initially feared were her eyeball and I have cleaned out white goop from her eye. After I flush her eye, she has some gurgling and coughing but I believe that is due to drainage of the sinus because she only does it after I flush it out. Asside from her eye injury, she is in good health.
I am debating how long to keep her confined. If I let her loose before her eyelid closes enough to keep out dust and debris, she could get another infection and I would rather not have to go through this again. Now I am also concerned that the young rooster will peck at her eye and cause further damage. He is second in line for dominance but he is going to be huge since he is already big for his age.
Is there anything else I should be doing for the eye injury? If the rooster has already pecked her eye and he has tried pecking her a second time, will he keep displaying aggression towards her even after her eye is healed enough to join the flock? I know alot of people would have just put her down but I have a hard time giving up on a bird before I have tried everything I can do. I had to have my husband cull a pullet I had worked on for 4 months trying to repair a torn ligament (the main one that goes down the back of the leg) because I get so attached to a bird I have had to give special care to for so long. I am looking forward to being able to return this pullet to the flock if that will be possible without her becoming re-injured. I have not seen eye patches for chickens but I thought about trying something over the eye to keep the lid closed while the eyeball irritation is healing. If anyone has dealt with this type of injury, I would love to know what worked best.
I have been flushing the eye with saline solution and then using Vetericyn opthalmic gel to keep the eye as clean and soothed as possible while also treating her with penicillin for infection (she has been on the antibiotic for over a week now). She still gets some white goopy discharge in the eye and some drainage into her sinus but she is improving. I had been tempted to try putting in a suture to keep the eyelid from sagging but I would have had to scrape the edges to get them to fuse and I was concerned about using too many sharp objects to repair the eyelid if there was a chance it would heal without surgery. There is nice tissue growth in the V shaped tear so I think it will fill in and she will be able to close her eye tight to protect the eyeball from dust but it will take time.
I noticed the torn eyelid because the hen had a swollen eye with white discharge. I have actually removed some semi-solid clumps of pus that I initially feared were her eyeball and I have cleaned out white goop from her eye. After I flush her eye, she has some gurgling and coughing but I believe that is due to drainage of the sinus because she only does it after I flush it out. Asside from her eye injury, she is in good health.
I am debating how long to keep her confined. If I let her loose before her eyelid closes enough to keep out dust and debris, she could get another infection and I would rather not have to go through this again. Now I am also concerned that the young rooster will peck at her eye and cause further damage. He is second in line for dominance but he is going to be huge since he is already big for his age.
Is there anything else I should be doing for the eye injury? If the rooster has already pecked her eye and he has tried pecking her a second time, will he keep displaying aggression towards her even after her eye is healed enough to join the flock? I know alot of people would have just put her down but I have a hard time giving up on a bird before I have tried everything I can do. I had to have my husband cull a pullet I had worked on for 4 months trying to repair a torn ligament (the main one that goes down the back of the leg) because I get so attached to a bird I have had to give special care to for so long. I am looking forward to being able to return this pullet to the flock if that will be possible without her becoming re-injured. I have not seen eye patches for chickens but I thought about trying something over the eye to keep the lid closed while the eyeball irritation is healing. If anyone has dealt with this type of injury, I would love to know what worked best.
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