gildedgrub
In the Brooder
- Feb 7, 2024
- 2
- 0
- 12
I just adopted a beautiful four-year-old olive egger named Dolly. She came from a friend who had tragedy strike when something got into the coop, and Dolly was the sole survivor. She sustained injuries to her comb and one of her eyes, which is still swollen shut days later.
I've included photos of her eye to ask everyone's opinion. Do you think it's possible she has lost her eye altogether? If that's the case, should I be doing anything for her besides keeping the area clean and applying antibiotic ointment? All I had on hand was neosporin but I'm going to pick up some saline solution and terramycin today. Should I be giving her antibiotics?
The other issue is that her comb flops over and completely covers her healthy eye, effectively rendering her blind. Is there a way to gently redirect the comb out of the way so she can see? My initial thought was bobby pins but I know that's silly.
She's definitely traumatized, poor baby. She has no appetite, but I had luck with getting her to drink quite a bit of water from an eyedropper earlier. I'm going to try blending up feed and water to make a soup to try the eyedropper method tonight just to get some nutrients in her.
I've been mainly letting her rest inside a dog crate in my living room where it's quiet and warm, but as of right now I have her in the coop with the door closed (the rest of my flock free ranges) in the hopes that everyone can slowly get acclimated with each other without risk of pecking or squabbles. It's also our hope that she finds comfort in hearing she's among other chickens again.
Any advice is welcome. I'm still relatively new to being a chicken mother (nine months) and this is the first injury I've needed to deal with.