I have three six week old RIR that have swollen, weepy eyes. They seem to be scratching at their heads alot and their eyes. I am using an antibiotic ointment on the eyes and antibiotics in their water. The other chicks in the pens seem to be scratching their heads alot too. No other symptoms. Any ideas what this might be?

Cheryl,
I have four new pullets and two -one month old turkeys that have similar symptoms. Their eyes are almost swollen shut and are secreting a foamy substance. I am also giving antibiotics in their water. If you find anything out, please let me know.
Thanks!

Gail Damerow, in The Chicken Health Handbook, lists frothy eyes in growing and mature birds as caused by chronic respiratory disease. This is contagious and she says there are no effective treatments, but Tylan or Gallimycin will reduce the death rate, although the survivors will be carriers. She says to minimize stress due to moving, crowding, chilling, etc. There is a vaccine, and it helps to clean and disinfect housing, then leave open for a few weeks. She also says this is a reportable disease in many states. Hope this helps.

Dr. Bruce,
Thanks for the info. They, along with the rest of my flock are now wheezing, so I'm pretty sure it is chronic resp. disease. I'm am heartbroken to find this out but I'll do everything I can to keep them comfortable. Is this species specific? Can it be passed to humans and/or dogs & cats? I am currently incubating eggs from a hen I had before the infected ones. Could her eggs be contaminated also?

I would expect everyone would be carriers. Look into vaccinating your chicks, then plan on sanitizing the building as soon as possible.
Merck says infection can be expected in turkeys, pheasants, chukar partridges, and peafowl, and may occur in pigeons, quail, ducks and geese (and psittacine birds??). There is nothing about infection of humans, but people can carry the pathogen from one flock to another. Hope this helps.