[mintytwoshoes]

Hi everyone,
Need some advice please - just found one of my 5 week old chicks has a very swollen eye  which was closed up - I have bathed it with boiled water and she is at least opening it.  Separated it from the hen and the other chick and it is eating well.  Have given it some natural grapefruit antibiotic from the health shop in the water.  Any suggestions welcome as this is one that I found on its back in the run almost at death and it spent three days in an incubator and recovered enough to go back with the hen fortunately.  With all the effort would not want it to go downhill now.  Appreciate all of you such a wealth of help and knowledge.

[chrismahon]

it may have ben damaged by the hen accidentally Minty. We have had an instance when a chick was so intent on watching what mum scratched up it was caught by a claw and its skin ripped off completely from eye to neck. It looked horrendous and my first instinct was to despatch. But when observing it appeared in no discomfort and wasn't aware of the extent of its injuries. She grew into a lovely hen and the only way you could tell was by slightly misaligned feathers near her ear. Two years on and I don't know which one it was, but she is still here somewhere.

[mintytwoshoes]

Thank you that is very encouraging - I wondered if it was an accident you just never know.  Any thoughts what I should bathe the eye with?

[chrismahon]

Clean lukewarm water, or cold water if the swelling is bad is what i would use. They recover very quickly normally, unless infection gets in of course. Our little chick had no ear and it all re-grew albeit a bit misshapen.


Best of luck Minty. I'm off now to check on Daisy, a leghorn bantam that was egg bound this morning. The egg burst and I managed to retrieve all the shell but she still seems a bit droopy.