Monday, September 06, 2010

Hen update - Anastasia's eye boo-boo


Thanks for the help my chicken-loving bloggy friends offered up on my hen Anastasia, whose eyelid has been closed for a couple of days now.

John the chicken genius had a few questions for me. John, she seems to be walking fine and isn't shakey, and is very interested in food and treats. She just seems quiet and not as active as usual. I don't see any noticeable signs of a stroke, but thanks to you, now I know about the blood pressure of chickens! :)

On Saturday, we got her some antibiotic eye-drops, which I have been putting in her eye three times a day. Also on Saturday, I noticed a tiny white mark on her eye, like she has been pecked or poked there. Still no signs of any infection, so my guess is that she got bopped in the eye somehow and is keeping the lid up while it heals. Yesterday I couldn't see the white dot anymore AND she was occasionally opening the eyelid for a quick peek around. Her demeanour seemed good last night. She was first at the treats when I tossed them on the floor of the coop!

I'm going to continue with the eye-drops and keep monitoring her. She is SO good about getting the drops. I'm very glad I handled all the hens daily from day one, because they are generally quite calm when I pick them up and hold them. I suspect the eye-drops feel soothing as well.

If anyone has any other advice, feel free to fire away! Thanks so much for the help you've given so far. I don't want my girls to be hurting or uncomfortable. I do have the number of a local vet who cares for chickens but I'd like to avoid the stress of a vet visit if possible. She does seem to be improving but I'll watch her today and see how she does.


4 comments:

  1. I'm glad she's getting better. Chickens can be mean with their pecking each other! Thanks for the update!

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  2. I'm so glad Anastasia is feeling better. My lady had to give her hen Agatha liquid antibiotics once. That was interesting!

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  3. Glad that some readers were able to help. Hope she's back to normal real soon.

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  4. She seems just about back to normal now, but I'm going to keep giving her eyedrops for the rest of the week. Thanks for all the good thoughts!

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Thank you for all your comments, which I love to read!