Blind Chick, any suggestions? (other than culling)

MESOFRUFFEH

Songster
5 Years
Sep 15, 2015
382
58
156
East Texas
I got some chicks at tractor supply on Wednesday and I got a couple of runts in my group. One of them I have come to the conclusion, is blind. Her eyes do not appear well developed, they are sunk in, and she just plain ol acts like she cannot see. At first I thought maybe she was dehydrated and stressed from shipping, so I showed her the water, but I h ave not seen her eating and drinking. Last night I took a dropper and fed her a mixture of Kaytee exact baby bird handfeeding formula, mixed with a few drops of nutri-drench, some egg yolk, and a few drops of water. I just decided last night that she was blind, so up until that point, she was with the rest of the chicks in the brooder, but I have her in my Chick ICU (Chick-U?) with two other babies that needed some extra TLC. I am hoping she has perked up a little by the time I get home this afternoon. Does anyone have any suggestions? How often I should feed her? If I absolutely needed to, I could feasibly bring her to work with me. I would like to tube feed her to know that she is getting as much nutrition as she needs, but I have no idea where to get a tube that tiny. I have tubed several chicks before, but they were several weeks old. All the tubes I have are much too large for her tho. I have been doing a lot of reading on old threads where others have successfully raised a blind chick, so I have some hope she could pull through. I wanted to ask so many questions, but most of those threads are super old and I wasn't sure if I should resurrect such an old thread.

I am hoping the mixture I gave her this morning will perk her up a bit (the nutri-drench really perked up one of my others overnight that was having a really hard time). I know the chicks can last a few days on the yolk they absorb from the egg, but at what point is that completely used up and they HAVE to start eating? I am just hoping going 8 hours without anything to eat or drink will be ok for her today.
 
I just got my first shipment of hatched chicks from a farm store and am dealing with the same issue. I did a mixture of the medicated feed and warm water, let the feed dissolve a bit, and then used an eye dropper. The eye dropper is definitely too big to fit inside her mouth, so I put a little bead of the food on the end of her beak and she will lap it up avidly. I've had my chicks for two days and I've fed her four to five times a day. I work from home so I am able to care for her easily. I would bring your chick to work with you. With a heating pad, some paper towels, and a small cardboard box you should be golden. My blind chick is resting on my lap now with a warm heating pad and soft towel wrapped around her. She is very happy!

I also did some raw egg yolk and she loved that. Something I paid attention to was her poop, gross I know, but as long as she was pooping and peeing I knew things were going aright.

Another issue I've had is keeping her little downy feathers dry while I feed her. I've taken to wrapping her up in a towel and exposing just her head to keep her stabilized while I eye dropper the watery mixture to her. It keeps her much cleaner than my first couple tries! It became a big issue when I noticed the other chicks would peck at her wet feathers. So after I feed her I put her on my lap with the heating pad and towel to make sure she is completely dry.

The only concern I have now is how she is going to get grit into her diet. She does peck a little bit at the ground, but it throws her off balnce and she falls backwards. Hopefully she will get the hang of it! Keep me updated with how yours is doing!
 

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