Newly hatched chick. NO EYES! **UPDATE 1-31-12** SHE LAYED!!!!!!!!

Date sort Score sort
Rainstorm

Rainstorm

Songster
10 Years
May 25, 2009
1,041
13
163
Lake Placid FLorida
Just had a silkie/milli fleur cross chick hatch. I noticed he was litterally chirping his head off worse then any chick ive ever had, picked him up and realised I couldnt see his eyes, thought they made stuck shut.. Nope. his eyes are completly sealed SHUT! theres bumps on his head where the eyes/eye sockets should be but theres no eye lids or anything! Can a chick live/learn to eat and drink and live blind? I never kill unless its suffering. hes newly hatched so that gives 3 days before he HAS to eat and drink. Need some help or info.

and when I say sealed shut I dont mean as in stuck, I mean there is NO SLIT for the eyes, just flat skin
 
Last edited:
I'm sorry that you have had this deformity, it does happen with all species from time to time.

I guess most would say cull, but the chick will find food and water if they are left in the same place all the time. The decision as to what you wish to do is yours, but if you decide to keep the chick, the environment needs to be kept very stable.

I have a totally blind 2 year old ram. It took us a while to work out why he didn't keep up with mum in the field as a lamb. and we ended up bottle rearing him. As an adult he is a bit unsettled after a field change, but manages perfectly well now.

I am sure that owners who have blind chickens can advise if you decide to keep the chick.
 
I had a rooster go blind. He did eventually die. He probably wasn't getting enough food and water. I kept him in the same place and made sure he was eating and drinking, but if I didn't stay with him the entire time, he'd get lost, spill his food and go hungry.

Chickens are visual eaters and have terrible sense of smell. Its hard to have a blind chicken, but it is possible. Its your decision what to do.
 
I got a chick (for free) like that at the feed store. It looked like it was squinting but had no eyes. I handfed & watered it when I got it home but it died overnight. I figured I had at least given it a warm light and filled it's belly (though if it lived it would have needed to be able to cope without me). I was glad I didn't need to cull. I was told at the time that it likely had more wrong with it than just eyes.
hugs.gif
 
The lady I got my ducks from... had a blind duck (from birth)... seems to be doing fine... follows the quacks...

Edited: I agree with speckledhen...
 
Last edited:
I have a little blind Crested Polish chick, Helen, who is now 14 1/2 weeks old. She is a little bit smaller than her sister, but she is actually doing quite well. I got her as a 2-day old from Murdoch's during chick days and it took me a couple of weeks to even notice she was different. It wasn't until I put them in a larger brooder that I noticed she would feel along the wall with her beak to find her way around. I examined her closely and realized that her eyes don't really have an iris, and are just black...and much smaller than her sister's eyes. I then started weighing both her and her sister to keep track. She gains really slowly, but she does gain. She is now 1 lb, 10.8 ounces. The other girls don't really seem to pick on her or anything. When I moved them from their brooder out to their home in the barn I just kept an eye on her and made sure she was able to find the food and water without problem, which she somehow manages to do. She hears the other girls' peck at the feeder and she goes right over and starts eating. She has been in 2 different brooders and has had a few feeder and waterer changes, and she has handled it like a champ. Whenever there is a major change I just kind of show her where the food and water is as well as the edge of the pen, and she seems to find her way around from there. She is in with 31 other 15 1/2 and 14 1/2 week old girls and does fabulously. She does tend to get a little "lost" when she goes outside (I have my barn door open to the run) so I watch her really closely and just put her back inside when she can't find her way back in.

She's really a sweetheart and loves to be picked up. She will come to my voice now when I call her so I can pick her up.
love.gif
Good luck to you in whatever you decide to do, but I thought I would share a somewhat success story...at least so far.
smile.png
 
Rockin' Reds :

I have a little blind Crested Polish chick, Helen, who is now 14 1/2 weeks old. She is a little bit smaller than her sister, but she is actually doing quite well. I got her as a 2-day old from Murdoch's during chick days and it took me a couple of weeks to even notice she was different. It wasn't until I put them in a larger brooder that I noticed she would feel along the wall with her beak to find her way around. I examined her closely and realized that her eyes don't really have an iris, and are just black...and much smaller than her sister's eyes. I then started weighing both her and her sister to keep track. She gains really slowly, but she does gain. She is now 1 lb, 10.8 ounces. The other girls don't really seem to pick on her or anything. When I moved them from their brooder out to their home in the barn I just kept an eye on her and made sure she was able to find the food and water without problem, which she somehow manages to do. She hears the other girls' peck at the feeder and she goes right over and starts eating. She has been in 2 different brooders and has had a few feeder and waterer changes, and she has handled it like a champ. Whenever there is a major change I just kind of show her where the food and water is as well as the edge of the pen, and she seems to find her way around from there. She is in with 31 other 15 1/2 and 14 1/2 week old girls and does fabulously. She does tend to get a little "lost" when she goes outside (I have my barn door open to the run) so I watch her really closely and just put her back inside when she can't find her way back in.

She's really a sweetheart and loves to be picked up. She will come to my voice now when I call her so I can pick her up.
love.gif
Good luck to you in whatever you decide to do, but I thought I would share a somewhat success story...at least so far.
smile.png


Very inspiring!!!​
 
Thanks for the replys, and I am not going to cull if I can help it, fixing him a baby box in my room and going to pick 1 or 2 other hatchlings to keep with him so he isnt lonely, he definetly is sweet. Took him out and had him sitting by me and even when i was quiet you could see him looking around or listening and he would eventaully pinpoint me (without me talking) and he'd come over and squeeze up against me

Just moved another chick out that had her wing taken off by a dog, shes doing great so if he makes it grown I will just build them a lil handicap coop and small run for them two

Will add some pictures of him tonight
 

Similar threads

A
    • Sad
Eyes stuck shut - recurring - in healthy-seeming chicks
Replies
7
Views
1K
Kiki
Kiki
Chickencare
Chicken hock broken or something else?
Replies
3
Views
168
Chickencare
Chickencare
A
Newly hatched chick missing eyes
Replies
4
Views
722
amc237
A
drdrew
    • Sad
    • Wow
baby chick born with one eye
Replies
7
Views
468
EggSighted4Life
EggSighted4Life
J
BR chick Eye Pecking blinded another chick
Replies
1
Views
470
nuthatched
nuthatched

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom