Welsummer Hen Brought in for Puss in Right Eye, Head is now Either Stuck to it's Back or Drooping on The Floor

[Sparkle110]

3 days ago when doing my regular maintenance I noticed one of my chickens (Welsummer hen, about 2-3 years old) had a large amount of puss under the eyelid of it's right eye. I immediately brought it in and carefully cleaned out it's eye with bottled spring water and tweezers, I wanted to keep an eye on it so I set up a cage in my garage using some hay I use for food for my other animals (I didn't have any clean wood shavings or I would of used that) and gave it food and water, I made a note to check on it every 6 hours. over that first day it seemed alert and was walking around, over the second day it appeared to be resting (It was on the thin side of my flock and it's winter feathers hadn't quite finished coming in) I was worried it was too cold in my garage (~1-5C) for it so I moved it to my basement where it's much warmer (room temperature). A little later that day I noticed it's head was strained on it's back. I decided to attempt to wake the animal only to find it wasn't asleep and it's started failing backwards, stumbling on it's hocks and in a constant state of falling backwards. I talked to some other chicken-keeepers I knew and they suggested it was a vitamin e deficiency , so I took a gel capsule of vitamin e, cut it open and used a syringe to give it about .1 ml of it, plus I took a mortar and pestle and ground up of some of it normal layer pellets and put that in it's beak plus some water and made sure it swallowed. As of this morning it's head is no longer stuck to it's back but rather it's under it's chest on the ground. it appears to be standing at some times but it still remains mostly sitting.

 

[Sparkle110]

3 days ago when doing my regular maintenance I noticed one of my chickens (Welsummer hen, about 2-3 years old) had a large amount of puss under the eyelid of it's right eye. I immediately brought it in and carefully cleaned out it's eye with bottled spring water and tweezers, I wanted to keep an eye on it so I set up a cage in my garage using some hay I use for food for my other animals (I didn't have any clean wood shavings or I would of used that) and gave it food and water, I made a note to check on it every 6 hours. over that first day it seemed alert and was walking around, over the second day it appeared to be resting (It was on the thin side of my flock and it's winter feathers hadn't quite finished coming in) I was worried it was too cold in my garage (~1-5C) for it so I moved it to my basement where it's much warmer (room temperature). A little later that day I noticed it's head was strained on it's back. I decided to attempt to wake the animal only to find it wasn't asleep and it's started failing backwards, stumbling on it's hocks and in a constant state of falling backwards. I talked to some other chicken-keeepers I knew and they suggested it was a vitamin e deficiency , so I took a gel capsule of vitamin e, cut it open and used a syringe to give it about .1 ml of it, plus I took a mortar and pestle and ground up of some of it normal layer pellets and put that in it's beak plus some water and made sure it swallowed. As of this morning it's head is no longer stuck to it's back but rather it's under it's chest on the ground. it appears to be standing at some times but it still remains mostly sitting.

and for a TLDR
1) What type of bird , age and weight (does the chicken seem or feel lighter or thinner than the others.)
Welsummer, Age 2-3 Years old
2) What is the behavior, exactly.
Droopy head, flailing backwards, walking on hocks
3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms?
3 days
4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms?
No
5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma.
No
6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation.
The only thing I can think of is that it wasn't eating it's food and was missing out on important nutrient
7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all.
it's only been eating and drinking what I give it, though I do leave food and water in it's cage
8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc.
Semi-runny. not enough to have it's own shape but it's not liquidy.
9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far?
I've been grinding up food and giving it to the bird as well as water through a syringe as well as given it one dose of .1ml of vitamin E
10 ) 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?
I'd like to treat it myself, though I do what to see this bird healed it's not worth the 100+ dollars to get the vet involved
11) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help.
Here's how it looked as of this morning

12) Describe the housing/bedding in use
The cage is 2.5" by 1.5" and is about 3.5" high. I'm currently using hay as bedding, it also has a tarp under it for easy cleaning once this is over.

Thanks for the help in advance!

 

[dawg53]

You might consider adding selenium with the vitamin E to help her get back on her feet.
The pus in the eye is a concern. It could be due to an eye injury of some sort, perhaps pecked near or in the eye by another bird or possibly the onset of a respiratory disease. I'm leaning toward an injury. Just be observant for any other respiratory disease symptoms.
Here's a link regarding the use of selenium and vitamin E. I recommend that you read through the whole thread before treating your hen with the selenium and vitamin E.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...nd-vitamin-e-for-chicks-with-wry-neck.842096/

 

[Eggcessive]

The walking on hocks, wry neck, and going backward could be neurological, and sometimes is seen in Mareks disease, and in certain respiratory diseases (avian influenza, Newcastles, others,) or vitamin deficiency (E, B1 thiamine.) Vitamin E 400 IU softgel and 1/4 tablet of human B complex, along with a little soft cooked egg for selenium daily may help. The eye infection could be respiratory or from injury or pecking. Pus needs to be expressed if possible, cleaned off, and the eye can be flushed with saline or eye wash. Terramycin, plain Neosporin or Triple Antibiotic Ointment can be put into the eye2-3 times a day. Clearer pictures of the eye may help.