Why is my chicken's eye closed, feathers ruffled, and not eating?

Unfortunately, those are extremely vague signs of illness, so it would be hard to say what is going on. It would be best to separate the sick hen from your flock to avoid being picked on and spreading any illness. Keeping her warm in quarantine with easy access to food and water may help, however if you can't find an outward cause of her illness, she will need to be seen by a vet in person to determine what the issue is.

Unfortunately, these are very general symptoms of illness with multiple causes. A physical exam, and possibly diagnostics, would be needed to definitively diagnose the underlying cause. For this, Kuko needs to be physically examined by your veterinarian or a vet experienced in treating domestic fowl. In the meantime, keep him warm and as stress free as possible. Make sure he continues to eat and drink. You can feed him a chick starter mixed with water to make a paste to get some calories and nutrition into him. Use a dropper and unflavored PediaLyte or DioraLyte to aid in hydration.

Hello. It is very common to see reproductive disease in chickens including salpingitis & egg yolk peritonitis. If you could bring her indoors where it is a bit cooler, feed her nutritious foods such as cornbread, cooked eggs, even a bit ( not much ) of canned cat food & see if she perks up. Many of these birds are actually in quite a bit of pain, so if there is any way to have her seen by a vet, this would be best. X-rays are often taken in these cases to evaluate the internal organs or see if she is actually egg bound. There is a lot we know about chickens, but sometimes not much we can do to save them. Hope you can have her evaluated soon. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

She may have a respiratory infection. This can be a bacterial, fungal or air sac mite infection. Clarabelle would need to be physically examined by your veterinarian or a vet experienced in treating domestic fowl for confirmation. Antibiotics may be indicated. In the meantime, keep her warm and separated from the flock if you have more chickens. placing her in a steamy bathroom, NOT in the shower, may help loosen up and congestion. Keep her as stress free as possible until she sees the vet.

It could be a touch of conjunctivitis but usually swollen eyes are the first sign of Mycoplasma infection which also cause respiratory problems. They will always have Mycoplasma and stress will trigger it, but the first instance is usually the worst. Even if you don't have a vet who will see chickens you could ring them to get a dose of antibiotic such as baytril which will help in early stages.

This sounds like Petunia may be ill or suffering from a nutrition deficiency if she wasn't fed a balanced diet for chickens or allowed to forage to supplement her feeding. I would seek out veterinary care right away if home treatments have not helped and she is worsening.

This sign could be compatible with an upper respiratory tract inflammation/infection or eventually to a chronic rhinitis (inflammatory, allergic, infective). A clinical examination at your local veterinarian is essential to confirm these clinical suspicions and treat appropriately. Antibiotics may be needed. Please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further.