You’d be rightfully concerned if your bird catches an illness, some chicken illnesses aren’t too serious and are easy to cure, but others are very serious and are harder to cure.
If your chicken’s eye is producing pus then this is a sign that there is something wrong with the bird. This article looks into why this may be happening.
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White pus in chicken eye:
Bird pus is not like human pus, unlike human pus, bird pus is solid and is not a thick fluid like human pus is. If you realize that your bird’s eye is producing pus then your bird may have mycoplasmosis or infectious coryza:
Bulgy eye (mycoplasmosis):
If a white discharge is being produced by your chicken’s eye then this may mean that the bird has a disease called mycoplasmosis or bulgy eye.
This disease is caused by the mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG) and M. synoviae (MS) bacteria. It is similar to the common cold in humans as it is a chicken respiratory infection.
Unfortunately for chickens, it is easy to catch but thankfully, mortality is low in uncomplicated cases.
The bacteria can contaminate feed, water, and the environment. It can also contaminate human objects like, shoes and equipment if a person comes into contact with this bacteria from a different location.
Other symptoms that may show up in sick birds, in addition to discharge at the eye, include coughing, sneezing, difficulty breathing, swollen sinuses, gasping, and general respiratory distress.
The mortality rate for this disease may be low, but if a bird catches this disease, and then becomes infected with another more serious disease, like bronchitis or e.coli then your bird can become very sick.
What to do:
The first thing that you’d need to do is isolate the sick bird. This will keep the bird from infecting other birds and give the bird the opportunity to heal.
Once you’ve isolated the sick bird you’d need to clean the coop thoroughly using a disinfectant. Ethanol and Alkaline products will work against this bacteria. Installing new bedding in the bird’s nest boxes is also recommended.
Giving your bird time and space to rest and recover is also important. Giving, the bird electrolytes, vitamins, and minerals will help boost the bird’s immune system and help the bird fight the infection.
Antibiotics can also be given to an infected bird, these medications won’t be able to get rid of the infection but they will be able to reduce the symptoms of this disease.
Unfortunately, even if a bird does recover it will still be infected with the disease for the rest of its life. Stress can cause the disease to reoccur in the bird.
Infectious coryza:
This is another bacterial infection that can cause your bird’s eye to produce white pus. This is different from mycoplasmosis because it also causes facial swelling.
Infectious coryza is an upper respiratory infection caused by the Avibacterium paragallinarum bacteria, previously called the Haemophilus paragallinarum bacteria and the Haemophilus gallinarum bacteria.
It can be spread via direct contact between a healthy bird and a sick bird. Sick birds can carry this disease for long periods of time, even after the bird has recovered.
Transmission of this disease also happens when healthy birds drink contaminated drinking water, inhale airborne droplets, or have direct contact with a sick bird.
In addition to infectious coryza causing the bird’s eye to produce white pus, the disease can also cause the bird to have difficulty eating and drinking, can cause the bird to develop a pale and swollen comb, can cause breathing difficulties in the bird, as well as bubbling at the corner of the bird’s eye, lethargy, a change in appetite, diarrhea, a drop in egg production, cause eyelids to stick together, and, it can cause the bird to produce a foul smell.
What to do:
Giving the bird antibiotics will help treat this infection. That being said, the correct antibiotics need to be given for the medication to work.
Also, antibiotics will help to reduce the clinical signs of this disease but they won’t be able to eliminate the bacteria from the sick bird.
Giving the bird the incorrect antibiotics may result in antibiotic resistance in the long term. You’d need to visit a vet for a prescription on which antibiotics to give the bird.
You’d also need to isolate the bird. Separate the sick bird and keep it isolated in a dog kennel or cat carrier. Keep the sick bird in a warm environment and give it access to its own food and water.
You’d also need to clean and disinfect the coop to keep this disease from spreading even further.
On visiting the vet:
You may want to remove the pus out of your bird’s eye yourself but doing this isn’t recommended. You can accidentally damage your bird’s eye if you try to remove the pus yourself.
You may need to take your bird to the vet to be examined, and diagnosed, and to have the pus removed. Taking your bird to a specialized bird vet rather than a normal vet, if you can, is recommended.
If you enjoyed this article then you may also be interested in other chicken related articles. Here are some articles that you may be interested in: Chicken Shaking Head And Opening Mouth, Home Remedies For Chicken Eye Infection, Baby Chick Shaking Head, Yellow Pus In Chicken Eye, Chicken Shaking Head And Closing Eyes