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| Lena (L) and Miss Emily (R) |
This past week I've noticed that one of my hens has been looking at the world through a squinted eye. Lena, seen above, is normally bright eyed and perky, but this past week she has kept more to herself than normal. I enlisted the Hubbs to hold Lena while I had a look at her little eye to figure out what was the problem with it. I grabbed some tissue and a small amount of peroxide just in case.
Chickens have a sort of "pouch" beneath their lower lid, and that seemed to hold the mystery. The pouch of skin had a build-up of dirt, and it was STUCK there. Lena needed some help to remove it, so as Hubbs stroked her breast feathers to relax her, I took the tissue with a dab of peroxide on it (careful not to get it into her eyeball), and gently rubbed till the dirt was completely removed. There were some tiny pin feathers on that tender skin as well, so I was careful not to rub on those and irritate anything further. I had some antibiotic ointment that I sometimes use to treat my critters, and Lena got a small blurb of that under her lower lid. When treating those tiny eyes, it's important to be sure the hen is very relaxed because they can move quickly and no one wants to loose an eye!
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| infectious laryngotracheitis |
It's important to give your birds a "once over", to be sure all is well with them. The chicken eye shown above is a hen (not MY hen!) with a viral respiratory disease called laryngotrachetis. The eyes are the windows to the soul.... See the bubbles in the corner, and the sticky yellowish discharge? This illness progresses slowly through a flock of birds, and is mainly found in broilers, but can infect any bird, young or old. The birds will become lethargic, and will sometimes cough or stretch their necks out as they struggle to breath when the disease gets severe enough, and finally, the birds will expire.
Prevention is the best medicine, and so, keep your eye on your hens, and try to catch trouble before it gets worse.
the ChickenWrangler
14 comments:
I'm so glad that you were able to fix Lena up! Hope she is feeling better! Poor gal. I am learning so much about chickens that should I ever get a flock I will know what to do to take care of them just from reading your blog!
Have a Great Week!
Angela
You are a wealth of info for farm critters. I love it and glad to hear Lena is better. Anne
I am so glad Lena is okay - you are such a good mamma. Love, sandie
Oh poor dear Lena. Huggles sweet chickie girl.
You are a wealth of information that I use for caring for my girls! Thank you!
Glad that you were able to fix Lena! How's my libarian friend Lizzy??
Jane
Ugh, she must feel so much better! Having the eye goop is miserable.
Boy, you are the chicken whisperer!
You were certainly "on" it with Lena...prevention is key when there are others who can be infected, that's fer sure!
if ever I have chickens, you can be my vet. rose
I am glad Lena is on the road to recovery. You are very good to your chickens that says what kind of person you are, that you are loveing and kind and patient. I am learning more than I ever knew about chickens. That was sweet of you to clean her eye. I know your animals are taken care of.
yikes... amazing how there is always something (someone) to worry about... Hope her eye is better... you and your hubby are brave souls to hold her down and care for her eye!!
PS Fall Leaf art is SO easy... Lovely pressed leaves, canvas, collage podge (modge podge) ...
put collage podge on canvas... put leaves on... more collage podge over leaves... Magic!! Art! ;)
We have been blessed with pretty healthy chickens. I worry that something will happen that I won't know what to deal with. I do sometimes hop online to diagnose issues that we observe.
Lena is lucky to have you.
Becky K.
Good Morning Sweetie...
Oh I am so happy that you were able to find the problem and take care of Sweet Lena. I know she is feeling much better by now.
You are such a great Moma. I thank you for sharing this wonderful world of Hens and Eggs with me. I so enjoy reading about them. It makes my morning "Happy".
Have a gorgeous day sweetie, Sherry
Oh that looks awful! I don't like the idea of sad sick chickens!
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