Watery Swollen Eye

[AllynTal]

I have a 7-month-old hen with an eye that looks like this:


About a week ago, I noticed her eye was a little swollen and she had clear bubbly 'water' in the corner of her eye. I thought it was a peck-injury or she had gotten something in her eye that was irritating it. I douched her eye with Vetericyn Poultry Care and put a drop of Vetericyn Ophthalmic Gel it in twice a day. After a few days, it didn't look worse, but wasn't really any better. Yesterday, the swelling was worse and she developed those bumps around her eye. I started treating the eye with a triple antibiotic, but it isn't getting any better.

She is breathing normally and doesn't have any nasal discharge. Her mouth is normal. She is eating and drinking as usual and acting normally. Egg production is down in general because of the shorter days, so I can't tell if she has stopped laying. I haven't seen any evidence that any of the other flock members have symptoms; so far it's just this one and just one eye.

Should I stay the course or do I need to change treatments?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I have a 7-month-old hen with an eye that looks like this:


About a week ago, I noticed her eye was a little swollen and she had clear bubbly 'water' in the corner of her eye. I thought it was a peck-injury or she had gotten something in her eye that was irritating it. I douched her eye with Vetericyn Poultry Care and put a drop of Vetericyn Ophthalmic Gel it in twice a day. After a few days, it didn't look worse, but wasn't really any better. Yesterday, the swelling was worse and she developed those bumps around her eye. I started treating the eye with a triple antibiotic, but it isn't getting any better.

She is breathing normally and doesn't have any nasal discharge. Her mouth is normal. She is eating and drinking as usual and acting normally. Egg production is down in general because of the shorter days, so I can't tell if she has stopped laying. I haven't seen any evidence that any of the other flock members have symptoms; so far it's just this one and just one eye.

Should I stay the course or do I need to change treatments?

Any new chickens added to your flock recently?

Vet care would be best.

Your course of treatment would depend on what is causing the eye swelling. I have not really seen the bumps like that before - it almost looks like hives. Respiratory illness like Mycoplasma G. can cause bubbles in the eyes. If it is from pecking/scratch, then it could be E.Coli or some other unknown bacteria infection.

If you suspect it is from respiratory illness, then the treatment you are giving could be helpful. You could try Terramycin eye ointment to see if it improves. She may also need some antibiotics to help (something like Tylan).

If it's from a wound then Ciprofloxcin eye drops may be better. But if you have a vet, they can you get better meds than you can find OTC.

Flush the eye with saline to try to keep the gunk out then reapply your ointment.

 

[AllynTal]

No new chickens have been added to the flock.

It's easy to figure out that vet care would be best and the course of treatment depends on the cause. I don't have an avian vet anywhere near me, so here I am trying to deal with this myself - as most chicken-owners do. I am douching her eye and applying an antibiotic. When I posted the pic, I was hoping for something a little more conclusive. At this point, I'm suspecting fowl pox, but she doesn't have most of the symptoms.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Do the best you can.

Good luck

 

[AllynTal]

Bump

Any ideas?

The eye was swollen shut today. Still no wheezing or discharge from her nostrils. She is laying; I was able to confirm it when I had to wait for her to come out of the nesting box in order to treat her today. There was a warm, wet egg in the box when she left so I know it was laid less than a minute prior. She is eating and drinking. The only behavior change is she is avoiding me now because every time I pick her up, I'm messing with her eye.

I have some Valbazen and some Duramycin - 10. If no one has any advice, I'm going to treat her for eyeworm with the Valbazen first. I don't want to just throw antibiotics at her if I can't confirm she needs them.

As an aside note, my local feed store was out of Tylan and he told me that he thinks Tylan won't be available without a prescription after the first of the year. Can anyone shed light on that?

 

[azygous]

It looks like a simple sinus infection to me. Any antibiotic eye ointment will fix her right up if that's what it is.

I have an old hen who is prone to these sinus infections, and I just use my leftover cataract surgery eye drops which include a steroid, an antibiotic and an anti-inflammatory. I use them all on her and it clears up practically over night.

 

[AllynTal]

It looks like a simple sinus infection to me. Any antibiotic eye ointment will fix her right up if that's what it is.

I have an old hen who is prone to these sinus infections, and I just use my leftover cataract surgery eye drops which include a steroid, an antibiotic and an anti-inflammatory. I use them all on her and it clears up practically over night.

I was hoping that's what it was, but I've been putting triple antibiotic ointment on her eye for three days and it's only gotten worse. I wish she'd give me another symptom so I have a direction.

 

[azygous]

Perhaps the ointment you're using, which is for topical applications, not ocular, isn't getting into the eye enough to do any good. Do you have any elderly relatives or friends? Ask around and see if anyone has any leftover cataract eye drops.

Or ask at the feed store for an ocular antibiotic ointment or drops. The next step would be to try a broad spectrum oral antibiotic such as amoxicillin.

I order fish amoxicillin from KV Pet Supply. They are inexpensive and shipping is very fast and reasonable.

 

[AllynTal]

Perhaps the ointment you're using, which is for topical applications, not ocular, isn't getting into the eye enough to do any good. Do you have any elderly relatives or friends? Ask around and see if anyone has any leftover cataract eye drops.

Or ask at the feed store for an ocular antibiotic ointment or drops. The next step would be to try a broad spectrum oral antibiotic such as amoxicillin.

I order fish amoxicillin from KV Pet Supply. They are inexpensive and shipping is very fast and reasonable.

I read on here in more than one thread that triple is good for using in the eye and a less expensive option than eye antibiotic creams. That's not the case?

And no, I don't know anyone that has had cataract surgery, at last not in the last two decades.

How do you use the fish amoxicillin? Put drops right in the eye? Full strength or diluted? Is there egg withdrawal with it?

 

[moms3cuties]

my friend is also having chickens getting eye problems and I wanted to post the pictures here to see if anybody had some ideas?

She's wondering if wazine17 will help with this?