I found one of my hens today with very watery swollen eyes, I put her in isolation but when I went to tuck everyone else in for the night I found another one, the first one's eye's are so swollen that one is sticking out about a quarter inch from her head. There not sneezing or coughing, just very sick.
Anybody have a clue what this is and how to stop it.
Here is the picture of the other one.
Well my best guess is it's an infection in the sinus.
The sinuses are located under the eyes.....it would cause swelling. The one appears to have a gummed up eye as well.
If there were mine I would treat them with an antibiotic in the water such as terramycin with an electrolyte added as well.
I would also swab the eye lightly to clean it using warm water and depending on how the gummy one looked when I got it open I might put a tiny dab of eye antibiotic ointment (I have it for my shih tzu).
Try to get them to drink and offer their favorite treats to keep them eating.
Here are some links you might find something more offered:::
http://www.nda.agric.za/docs/chicken/default.htm
http://www.poultryhelp.com/eyeinfection.html
http://www.backyardpoultry.com.au/index.php?page=./articles/somethingwrong.html
http://www.ext.vt.edu/pubs/poultry/factsheets/31.html
http://www.shagbarkbantams.com/page22.htm
Julie
This message was edited Sep 16, 2007 3:10 PM
Thank you Julie, after reading over what links you sent me and the fact that we now have some sneezing, coughing and a couple having a hard time breathing today, I have added some penicllin into the water. 500 ml. to 5 gallon of water.
I have know idea if this is enough, too much or what. If any of you have any suggestions I'm open for anything at this point.
Laura
You might want to also post this on the Farm Life forum or directly contact leaflady. She is an excellent fowl doc, she's been raising and treating them for many years. Not sure how much she hangs on FL anymore so you might want to just dmail her. Good luck! Hope they are all better soon.
Lana
I'm not sure on your dosage, the packet should say how to ratio for poultry.
All I have listed on my notes for poultry for respiratory is~ broad spectrum antibiotics such as ::
Tylosin -which is an erythromycin product , aureomycin - is a tetracycline, terramycin - is an oxytetracycline HCI product, and gallimycin - is an erythromycin product.....
Good luck, hope they feel better soon.... let us know !!
Julie
K9MomTo6, Chickens get "sinus head colds" from viruses & bacterium .... just like people. It may be treatable as a bacterial infection vs. not really if it is a virus. At least with a bacterium you have something that can be killed. If it is a virus ... you'll just have to hope for mild weather, good food and a chicken coop free of ANY drafty wind. There are electrolitic additives you can buy for poultry to increase the vitality of the drinking water ..... kinda like adding Gatorade to your own drinking diet. Chances are that wet and/or wind combined to sorta overwhelm their immune systems. A heat lamp inside their coop might help to warm them up and aid in their recovery.
