alet_chicken Posted September 1, 2011 Share Posted September 1, 2011 Hi, two of my chickens seem to have developed a swollen eye each within the last couple of hours. I am a bit mystified and wondered if anybody could help. At around noon I noticed that Deirdre (an ex-batt) was keeping her eye shut. I used some cooled boiled water to rinse it in case she had something in it, but the eye seemed fine (just closed). I noticed that Deirdre's eyelid seemed swollen slightly, and also Beatrice, one of my other ex-batts, seemed to have a slightly swollen eyelid on one of her eyes (but not too seriously). My first thought was a sting of some sort. I noticed some wasps in their run about a week ago when we returned from holiday (they had been attracted to one of the pecking rings I left for the chickens) but took the ring out straight away and I haven't seen any wasps for a couple of days now. At 4 when I checked on Deirdre again, I noticed that Beatrice's eye was now completely shut too. Again the eye seems fine, it's the eyelids that are puffy and Beatrice is consciously keeping it closed. The puzzling thing is, both chickens (and all my other girls) seem happy and healthy in themselves, so I have no idea what to think/do. I would normally consider mycoplasma, but they don't seem to have any of the other symptoms (e.g. bubbling, breathing issues), plus I think ex-batts are supposed to have been immunized against myco. Any ideas/suggestions would be welcome. An amazing coincidence of two stings? A punch-up between the two 'ladies'? Or something more serious (and possibly contagious)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plum Posted September 3, 2011 Share Posted September 3, 2011 How strange are they any better? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alet_chicken Posted September 3, 2011 Author Share Posted September 3, 2011 They weren't getting any better so I took them to the vets this morning. The vet wasn't too sure what it could be either. She said it could be mycoplasma in an early stage (apparently there was the merest hint of bubbling in Beatrice's eye), or conjunctivitis or a bacterial infection, or even something in their environment that was irritating them. Both had Tylan injections (and are due to go back on Monday for boosters), and both look better already. So good news, but still a mystery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuckmum6 Posted September 3, 2011 Share Posted September 3, 2011 Could it be an allergic reaction? Have they got anything new they could have got their faces near ....? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alet_chicken Posted September 5, 2011 Author Share Posted September 5, 2011 Just to update, both girls are now much better (in fact Beatrice is completely back to normal). This is both good and bad news since it seems that the antibiotics is working, but if it's working then there must be some underlying infection in my flock (most likely mycoplasma). Also, one of my other girls has a runny nose; she also has a swollen eye (not so bad as the others) so she is now on antibiotics too (but obviously not at death's door since she laid an egg in the cat carrier on the way home). The other 8 seem fine, but I'm keeping a close eye and will treat the whole flock if necessary. I don't think it's an allergic reaction since we haven't changed anything in their run in the last two weeks (cleaned them out obviously, but the new bedding came from the the same packs as the previous bedding). However, knowing my chickens, I wouldn't rule anything out, so they're scheduled for a deep clean as soon as it stops raining. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
