Ailment affecting chickens' eyes, please please advise

18 years ago

What's affecting my chickens' eyes & how should I treat them? It's in my flock of 14-week old layers, noticed it on 2 yesterday & 1 more today. The weird thing is that it's only affecting the LEFT eye on each one!

The eye gets watery, a very tiny bit puffy, on one bird it's now completely shut. They keep shaking their heads to clear the drainage, the Americana's sideburn is wet from it. The drainage seems mostly thin & clear, the skin around it doesn't seem discolored.

What is it & how do I treat them? Should I try to wash the affected eye? With plain water or something else? They're on their 2nd day of antibiotic, Terramycin in their water, please tell me, what's the correct dosage for 1 gallon of water? And why oh why can't those Rx manufacturers give a dosage for us backyard birders & stop assuming that everyone needs to dose eighteen jillion gallons of water at a time? Would it help to isolate those affected birds or is everyone susceptible anyway?

It's been awfully hot here in SE Fla, and we just had an exceptionally rainy spell. These birds are in an airy wire-sided tractor plus spend some days free-ranging, where they often congegrate under a shed or in a swampy wooded area. I'm wondering if they picked up some cooties in all this dampness.

Thank you so very much for your time & attention on our behalf,

Carol in Florida

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Comments (4)

erinluchsinger
18 years ago
If it were cattle, I'd say they have pink eye. I'm not sure that chickens can get pink eye, though. Not sure of the correct dosage for a gallon of water. Probably around a teaspoon or something along those lines. I'd think that would clear it up.
chiroptera_mama
18 years ago
It sounds like conjunctivitis - there's a lot of good info out there on this. The link provided is for cockatiels, but it was the best one that talked about treatment. Be careful, you can catch it if that is what it is.

Here is a link that might be useful: look here for info
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If you do some web searching on respiratory illnesses in birds or poultry, you'll find lots of info. The short answer is: Basically yes, they are contagious, antibiotics will NOT help unless you are treating a SECONDARY bacterial infection (wounds oozing pus kind of thing), and all you can do is support them using unflavored Pedialyte to drink to boost their electrolytes, warmth, no drafts and good food. Several of my flock also came down with it during our persistently wet winter, it was a pain in the neck. :( Make sure that they are not also suffering from piggyback problems such as a mite infestation or worms. Once a chicken's immune system is down, the first illness can often act as a 'gateway illness' and open the door for other problems, which a normally healthy bird can fight off. You can check my chicken info site for more health tips that might help. http://home.earthlink.net/~velvetsparrow/VSChick.htm Good luck! :) Velvet ~:>
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Sounds like an upper respiratory illness, either Infectious Coryza or Infectious Bronchitis. Does her face look swollen? You can research both online to see which one might match your situation. Either way I'd say a visit to the vet for some antibiotics ASAP is in order (when a chicken shows signs of an illness, it is already VERY sick and time is of the essence, don't wait!), and watch the rest of your flock for symptoms. If you cannot get to a vet you can try the over-the-counter tetracycline-based bird antibiotics (Ornacyn is one, and Furazyte is another) sold at any pet store that caters to birds and parrots. Find the one specifically for respiratory infections, and you'll need to grind the tablets up before adding them to the birds' drinking water--they are very hard. Most likely you'll have to give it to her with an eyedropper if she isn't drinking on her own. Shagbark Bantams has a great poultry health article section, with three seperate sections on respiratory 'colds' in poultry. Here's the Coryza article: http://www.shagbarkbantams.com/page22.htm Try to keep her hydrated until you can give the antibiotics a chance to work. Food isn't attractive right now probably because she can't smell it. Try tempting her with things like scrambled eggs, diced grapes, mealworms, etc. which offer a bigger nutritional bang for your buck and also have a high moisture content. Be aggressive in your treatment of her, don't wait. Good luck! Velvet ~:>
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velvet_sparrow
18 years ago
I also have a Polish hen right now who is suffering from a case of respiratory ickies, along with a swollen shut left eye! Maybe we'll have to come up with a new name for this particular creeping crud...

I think what is happening is a respiratory infection--a cold, basically--that is affecting the sinuses and eyes. About the only thing you can do is treat it with an antibiotic, which of course has no effect on the virus itself but DOES treat any secondary bacterial infection. You just have to allow the virus to run it's course.

My vet also gave me eye drops of Genetian Violet for my bird, which we have been giving her for the last 3 days. It's too soon to tell if they'll help, but at least she isn't worse. My birds' symptoms match yours, by the way. Earlier this year I had one little Frizzle hen who was so bad you could SEE the swelling of her poor little head. She recovered and is just fine though, so I have hopes that the Polish will also be OK.

If you can't get a prescription eye drop from the vet, about all you can do is keep the eye and surrounding area clean. You can use sterile, unpreserved saline solution (which can be hard to find, most have preservatives in them), which is sold in grocery stores in the contact lens supply area.

What strength is your Tetracycline? You should be able to either contact the manufacturer (do they have a website?) or call your local friendly vet and ask him. You also need to make sure that each sick bird is getting the correct amount each day--and sick birds tend to stop eating and drinking. You may have to dose each one with medicated water.

Also check your feed, make sure it isn't wet or moldy--guard against Aspergillotis. Other than that, I'd suggest maybe offering your birds some unflavored Pedialyte instead of water to boost their electrolytes, and maybe some goodies to tempt them to eat and keep their strength up. Mealworms, scrambled eggs, corn on the cob, cooked spaghetti, etc.

Good luck!

Velvet ~:>
kimberlee
18 years ago
Try Terramycin Ophthalmic Ointment in their eyes. You should be able to buy it at your feed/farm store.

I have Chlortetracycline Soluble Powder and the dosage I have figured for chickens is 1/2 teaspoon per gallon.

Ailment affecting chickens' eyes, please please advise

Comments (4)

erinluchsinger

chiroptera_mama

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