Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Leggy's eye injury



My favorite rooster, Leggy the white Leghorn, has gotten injured.  He got scratched in the right eye, most likely by another rooster.  A few days ago the area around his eye was so swelled, he could no longer open the eye.  We started him on antibiotics in water, and give only him this water from a dropper twice a day.  We always keep antibiotics on hand for the birds anyway.  He is very easy to handle, as he remembers when I used to cuddle him when he was a baby last year (what can I say, he was my first rooster, and he loved to cuddle!!)  That has made him very tame now.  He still lives outside with the other birds, but we just bring him into the house in the evenings for his eye treatment.

Beware, the second picture below may be gross to some...

This picture shows Leggy's good eye.


This picture shows his bad eye.  There are dark scabs around the eye now, but he can open it and the swelling is way down.  At nighttime I put antibiotic eye ointment on his eye - this picture was taken right after I put the ointment on him while Randy was holding him, so it looks kinda messy.





When we first noticed Leggy's bad eye a few days ago I really didn't want to just ignore the problem as I thought he may be blind in the one eye, and he was one of the roosters I wanted to keep.  He is our only White Leghorn. 

Get better soon!

10 comments:

PixieLady57 said...

Hope he gets better soon.

Love chickens and roosters.

Have a great day
Kathy

Carla said...

Yup, looks like he got pecked on the eyelid. Roos seem so hardy, I'm sure he'll be up and about in no time with all your TLC.

AJ-OAKS said...

You are such a good chicken mama! I hope his eye gets better. Poor guy. :( A rooster in the house....hmmmmm..... does he get to watch television? :)

Country Girl said...

The poor bird! You are so good to those chickens! That rooster is huge! His comb is huge and so red!! Wow!- I hope his eye gets better really quick. I am sure it will with your good care! -Can't get over how large he is!! Never saw one that big!

Razzberry Corner said...

Kathy - Thank you!

CeeCee - You're right, roos are hardy. I don't think Leg even noticed he had a problem, but I noticed he couldn't measure distances very well, he missed the roost when he tried to jump up, etc. Then I saw one of the eyes was closed. But it's already open again, just has a hard scab across the eyelid.

Cindy - No, Leg doesn't get to watch TV! He's only inside 5 min a day to get ointment put on his face, and he stays in Randy's arms. He so loves to cuddle, even still. Memories from chick days... I think he'd be very happy staying inside if we held him, like if we were watching TV or something. But no way! No more chickens in the house!!!

Hi Barb - I dont think Leg is all that big, but he does have a huge comb and wattles. The comb grew quickly when he was a chick and he never grew into it! He is a very skinny bird though, all our birds are slender, I don't know why.

~Lynn

Foothills Poultry said...

I have a bantam girl I am treating for the same thing and on the same side. I hope your roo gets better soon. On the small chance that he is blind in that eye, don't worry, they adapt very easily. My favorite hen, Caramel, lost an eye to a hawk attack 18 months ago. She adapted and does great.

~~Matt~~

Robin said...

Such magnificent comb and wattles he has. He is a very pretty boy. Hope he gets better soon.

Knatolee said...

You're taking great care of him. I hope his eye heals completely. Poor guy!

John Going Gently said...

hope he gets on ok
x

Razzberry Corner said...

Matt - That's sad that Caramel lost an eye. Is she more skittish/scared now because of the attack?

Thanks, Robin! He does have the comb. Randy always said I should have made him a show rooster. Too late for that!

Knatolee - Thanks! He's all better now! It only took a couple of days of care for him, and he healed up just like new.

John Gray- Thank you!!!

~Lynn