Well Ossie's eyes weren't getting better.
He was not recovering as fast as his (as yet unnamed) Orpington sibling, who has been happily running the roost in the new tractor with the guineas and our Wyandotte.
It looked like Ossie's back feathers were also getting pecked by the other, healthier birds, so we segregated him and put him back in the garage.
Friday his eyes had swollen such that, from directly above, his head looked like a round ball. We needed to step up the treatment plan.
A search of some of the forums showed the possibility of a vet north of Baltimore ...probably a 90+ minute drive. I tried to find a local vet who would look at his eyes.
Our equine vet had provided some good general guidance, but also said he wasn't a bird expert.
So I tried the dog vet. No luck there.... but they did recommend another vet.
A call to that vet was unfruitful - no bird vet there (or no interest in looking at a chicken). However they recommended still another vet who they said did pet birds like cockatoos, etc.
I called the 2nd referral vet and came up with a winner.....however the bird vet was out till Monday. I took the first available appointment...even though they were located about an hour away in Callaway ( a town I had never heard of before).
Ossie's eyes looked bad, very painful. However, he was getting around fine, eating like a pig - contrary to what one thinks when one hears the phrase "eating like a bird".
Last weeks' online research suggested numerous causes and treatments. We went with administration of Tylan 50. This necessitated a drive to the nearest TSC, which is about 50-60 minutes away for the Tylan. Then a drive to a local Southern States (in the opposite direction we had to go to get to TSC) for some opthalmic ointment. Of course it would have been too, too convenient if one store had both items we needed!
So, after a stop at a regular drug store for more items, we got our medical supplies and went with a plan:
1 Clean the eyes with eye wash (Big Box drug store) 2x/day
2 Cover the eyes with the opthalmic ointment (Southern States) 2x/day
3 Adminster Tylan 50 (TSC) 0.5cc 1x/day
This helped considerably - the swelling was down significantly the next day and almost entirely gone by Sunday. I still anxiously awaited the visit to the vet scheduled for Monday.........................................
