Two new birds and maybe one with an eye infection :(

[WendyA]

After my https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1143673/is-it-cruel-to-keep-just-one-chicken/ post a few weeks ago, all plans to keep one chook until we moved house went out the window as, yesterday I was given two recuse chickens to add to my 'flock'. The birds came from a chicken boarder who was looking after my one hen (Honey) while I've been away for the last week and she started the introductions (in the same run, with no barriers) last week.

We're currently going through continued flock integration at home - mostly from partitioning my run during the day so they can look but not touch - and it's not going too badly so far. Honey is taking the brunt at the moment, unfortunately, but she's strong willed so I'm sure she'll be fine. And I do keep telling her it should be in her long term best interests.

I've two things I would like some help from is possible, please. First, is help to identify the breed(s) of the two new hens - Tanya (left) and Tilly (right). The boarder told me they are Marans but Tanya gave me a blue egg today! No eggs from Tilly as yet.



My other question, is how much do I need to be worried about the picture below? Tilly has one eye that is swollen, which I stupidly didn't notice until I got her home yesterday. She otherwise seems in good health, not lethargic etc., and it's just the one eye.

I started by thinking it was a integration injury from Honey, when she was giving as good as she got, but it hasn't cleared up at all today. Having now read some threads on the forum it seems it could be anything from 'nothing to worry about' to 'panic stations' and I'm not sure what to do.




Things are a little more complicated, as I'm sure you know the whole UK is currently in the middle of a 30 day avian flu prevention zone, so I can't let the birds free range to get away from each other and only one coop will fit in the run, so they are sleeping together at night.

Any advice would be much appreciated. Many thanks.

Wendy

 

[mymilliefleur]

Tilly looks like a Cuckoo Maran hen. Tanya is a Cream Legbar hen. Yes, it does look like Tilly might have an eye infection. I always use neosporin (the original version without the pain killer) for eye infections and and they usually clear up in a couple of days. Of course she could have some other issue, but if she is acting all right, and seems otherwise healthy I wouldn't be to worried. Good luck with your flock!

 

[Lady of McCamley]

x2

Your birds look to be Cream Legbar (almost assured as blue egg) and Cuckoo Marans.

If no other symptoms present, then sigh with relief and chalk it up to boarder introduction injury.

However, do not drop your guard for several weeks as this could be a mild case for Tilly that is more devastating to the others.

Your birds were exposed at the boarder's place so pointless to attempt any quarantine now. (I'm amazed they allowed boarding in an AI scare).

Quarantine means no shared fence run, no shared breathing space, no shared dander drift, no shared food/water, and separated preferably by 100 yards or more with the caretaker changing clothes and shoes so as to not bring contaminants from one place to the next.

That obviously has not occurred, so wait and hope is all you can do along with treating that swollen eye.

BTW, boarding is not a good situation for chickens, especially a border who lumps all birds in together without proper quarantine (and who would board with that kind of quarantine? maybe a Vet if they had facilities).

If at all possible, hire a young teen to feed and check on your chickens or swap care with another chicken owner (as long as they don't wear their chicken clothes to your place).

That's typical protocol for all proper chicken care....double the standards for AI....don't place out wild bird feeders, don't travel with birds, do not have any contact with any other bird or the clothing or chicken equipment (including feed bags) from someone who has, and that includes the tires driven from one property to the next. One small speck of fecal material can infect thousands.

The safest method is to keep a closed flock...nothing in...nothing out. To really be effective you have to approach Hazmat control, which obviously is not realistic for the backyard owner. So follow as clean and closed protocol as you reasonably can.

LofMc (who has lived through an AI scare).

 

[drumstick diva]

agree with Lady of Mc

 

[WendyA]

Thanks everyone. You've put my mind at rest a little and it's great to be sure of Tilly and Tanya's breeds.

LofMc - we do usually get our next door neighbour to look after the hens when we go away for short trips but they've just moved and we thought it was a bit too soon to be asking the new neighbours to help out. We've used the boarder before for longer holidays and she has quite a nice set up - all chicken families have their own area to roam in, although they can see the other hens nearby. We were worried the Avian flu would cause problems but she's covered all runs and disinfects everything when moving hens around.

For the moment most of the UK is only a Prevention Zone, with a few areas being classed as Protection and Surveillance Zones in the last week as unfortunately infected flocks have been found. I think if the whole UK becomes Protected or Surveyed, there will be more lock down on any movement won't there? Now we're all home I don't plan on taking them anywhere else and hopefully we escape much more infection over here.

mymilliefleur - thanks for the suggestion to use neosporin on Tilly's eye. It looks like I can't buy this in the UK though. Brulidine seems like an alternative over here - not sure it has the same active ingredients though - so I'll try and see if my local chemist has some. I'm worried I may struggle to find it over Christmas though - and ordering some neosporin to be delivered from the US will take an age - so do you know of anything else I could try?

Thanks for your help!

Wendy

 

[lazy gardener]

The only good thing in this eye infection thing is that it appears to be only one eye. If it were both eyes, or there was some nasal discharge, I'd be tempted to say you have a HUGE problem on your hands. But, just one eye: most likely it's simply a reaction to an injury, which will most likely clear up without further problem. Be on high alert and also do a thorough inspection of all 3 birds for mites/lice.

 

[mymilliefleur]

Thanks everyone. You've put my mind at rest a little and it's great to be sure of Tilly and Tanya's breeds.

LofMc - we do usually get our next door neighbor to look after the hens when we go away for short trips but they've just moved and we thought it was a bit too soon to be asking the new neighbors to help out. We've used the boarder before for longer holidays and she has quite a nice set up - all chicken families have their own area to roam in, although they can see the other hens nearby. We were worried the Avian flu would cause problems but she's covered all runs and disinfects everything when moving hens around.

For the moment most of the UK is only a Prevention Zone, with a few areas being classed as Protection and Surveillance Zones in the last week as unfortunately infected flocks have been found. I think if the whole UK becomes Protected or Surveyed, there will be more lock down on any movement won't there? Now we're all home I don't plan on taking them anywhere else and hopefully we escape much more infection over here.

mymilliefleur - thanks for the suggestion to use neosporin on Tilly's eye. It looks like I can't buy this in the UK though. Brulidine seems like an alternative over here - not sure it has the same active ingredients though - so I'll try and see if my local chemist has some. I'm worried I may struggle to find it over Christmas though - and ordering some neosporin to be delivered from the US will take an age - so do you know of anything else I could try?

Thanks for your help!

Wendy

I didn't realize you couldn't get neosporin over there. Can you get Vetericyn spray? It's kind of pricy, but a lot of people use it for eye infections.

 

[WendyA]

I think I can get that yes. I'll try and find some today before things close up for the holidays. Thanks mymilliefleur.

 

[mymilliefleur]

I think I can get that yes. I'll try and find some today before things close up for the holidays. Thanks mymilliefleur.

Your welcome. I hope your hens do well!