2 week silkies - crusted eye, swaying head? SOS

[Lunes]

Okay so I got silkies from ideal poultry in the 27th. 8 of them.
1 died in shipping- 1 died second day. Seemingly of nothing! But I know that’s just the nature of it sometimes.

One of my chicks had pasty butt and I cleaned it for days- It had a minor vent prolapse. I made sure to put Hydro Cortizone cream, vetericyn on it and it’s definitely healing and getting much better- it’s slowly going back to normal. No diarrhea.

Today I’ve checked my coop and my favorite chick which is a tiny black one seems to have a crusted eye. just one of them. I cleaned it with warm water on a piece of toilet paper. Made sure to clear away all of the crust very gently and I could see that it’s eyeball was fine underneath the crust and it can see. I then put some pure sterile saline solution on it with a Q-tip and then I put virgin cold pressed coconut oil to keep it moisturized and I know that it has some healing/anti bacterial properties. Is there anything else that I should do??

One of my Silkies is kind of swaying its head when it walks it doesn’t do this all the time just sometimes it’s really weird….besides that TOTALLY normal behavior.

I’m feeding chick starter crumble from my local store. I noticed that the chick crumble is kind of big pieces and the one that I was feeding before was an organic manna pro one from tractor supply and I had put it through the blender so that the pieces were a lot smaller. Could they be potentially not getting enough protein because they aren’t able to eat the big pieces of crumble???

I just wanna make sure I’m not doing anything wrong. I gave them some seedless watermelon and sweet corn crushed up today just so that they had some thing exciting to do and they’re all active and energetic and totally going crazy over the corn and watermelon . Even the ones that are having these weird issues! but I wanna make sure that I’m not ignoring at potentially more serious problem.

I feel like the one with the crusted eye is doing a bit of sniffling? No coughing or sneezing. Maybe the eye is just draining into its sinuses? I have put nitro drench in their water and I have kept the brooder clean. My ac in my studio (where they’re kept) is broken so I haven’t been in here much (it’s connected to my house though so the ac is flowing just not super strong- temp is 73 in here, with a purifier fan going for circulation, so I don’t think that has anything to do with it..I hope)

Thanks so much I always panic when these things happen because I’m a new chicken keeper and y’all always seem to know so much useful info from experience lol

 

[Lunes]

Gonna attach some photos- it’s so hard to see the eye bc the chick affected is black and it just looks normal lol this is after I cleaned it- didn’t manage to snag any photos before, because I had to clean it immediately and was freaking out


Black chick- crusted eye
Buff chick- the one with the swaying neck/head/weird balance

Photos in the bag- current “big” crumble
Photo of crumble on floor- old “blended” crumble for comparison

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Cute chicks!

I'd use saline to rinse out the eye, you can purchase it at stores like Walmart or you can make your own by boiling 2 cups of water and adding 1tsp salt. Make your homemade saline daily.
Use an eye ointment in the eye like Terramycin or if you can't find that, you can use Original Neosporin.

Sometimes crumbles can be a little large for chicks until they grow, so if you are worried about them not eating well, you can soak a small amount of feed in water for about 30minutes and feed as a wet mash or if you have a food processor grind the crumbles smaller.

 

[BastyPutt]

Today I’ve checked my coop and my favorite chick which is a tiny black one seems to have a crusted eye. just one of them. I cleaned it with warm water on a piece of toilet paper. Made sure to clear away all of the crust very gently and I could see that it’s eyeball was fine underneath the crust and it can see. I then put some pure sterile saline solution on it with a Q-tip and then I put virgin cold pressed coconut oil to keep it moisturized and I know that it has some healing/anti bacterial properties. Is there anything else that I should do??

All this sounds great and like you are doing everything that would otherwise be recommended.

One of my Silkies is kind of swaying its head when it walks it doesn’t do this all the time just sometimes it’s really weird….besides that TOTALLY normal behavior.

This is concerning, but may also be nothing. You have given great info otherwise that rules out some of the more common, treatable ailments.

I’m feeding chick starter crumble from my local store. I noticed that the chick crumble is kind of big pieces and the one that I was feeding before was an organic manna pro one from tractor supply and I had put it through the blender so that the pieces were a lot smaller. Could they be potentially not getting enough protein because they aren’t able to eat the big pieces of crumble???

This looks like an excellent crumble, but I think you are correct in that some pieces are too big. It wouldn't be a bad idea to turn it to a mash (or our preference ferment it ) and maybe a little extra grit if mashing it.

I just wanna make sure I’m not doing anything wrong. I gave them some seedless watermelon and sweet corn crushed up today just so that they had some thing exciting to do and they’re all active and energetic and totally going crazy over the corn and watermelon . Even the ones that are having these weird issues! but I wanna make sure that I’m not ignoring at potentially more serious problem.

This is excellent.

I feel like the one with the crusted eye is doing a bit of sniffling? No coughing or sneezing. Maybe the eye is just draining into its sinuses?

Hmmm - how often are you changing bedding? Sneezing can be easily attribute to dust from overly dry bedding. Chicks are very easily irritated by it. With the issues, I'd suggest changing bedding every other day for the time being, leaving 1/2 behind and adding a new 1/2. The old 1/2 will keep the good bacteria in the brooder, and the new hopeful keep the dust and debris down.

I have put nitro drench in their water and I have kept the brooder clean. My ac in my studio (where they’re kept) is broken so I haven’t been in here much (it’s connected to my house though so the ac is flowing just not super strong- temp is 73 in here, with a purifier fan going for circulation, so I don’t think that has anything to do with it..I hope)

Don't see any issues here. Whatever is going on doesn't seem temp related in the slightest.

 

[lavendermarie]

I had a black silkie chick back in 2020 with the same crusted eye issue. She was in pretty back shape, but I just kept cleaning the eye when it would get crushed shut and since she wasn’t eating much I gave her a mixture of molasses, water, and I think salt. I can’t recall the exact measurements but there’s plenty of recipes online if it gets to that point where she’s not eating. So far, it seems like you’re doing all that you possibly could be!

As for the one with the swaying head, I can’t exactly picture it in my mind what you mean by that but I do have a silkie who does this odd circular almost kind of a swaying motion with her head? It’s hard to explain but she’s three years old now and doing great so it may not be anything to worry about!

I think you’re doing everything right. All you can do now is keep and eye on them and stay positive.

 

[Pipica]

Pure chamomile tee bags. If you look for it there is a German chamomile tea and it supposed to be cut above all the others. It has some antibacterial /viral properties and we use it for cleaning eyes in small kittens when they come in with URI. 3 to 4 x a day should take care of it.

 

[Lunes]

Pure chamomile tee bags. If you look for it there is a German chamomile tea and it supposed to be cut above all the others. It has some antibacterial /viral properties and we use it for cleaning eyes in small kittens when they come in with URI. 3 to 4 x a day should take care of it.

Oh wow so just like people hold tea bags on their styes in their eyes! Interesting- def gonna look this up! It’s gotten worse and so swollen

 

[Lunes]

I had a black silkie chick back in 2020 with the same crusted eye issue. She was in pretty back shape, but I just kept cleaning the eye when it would get crushed shut and since she wasn’t eating much I gave her a mixture of molasses, water, and I think salt. I can’t recall the exact measurements but there’s plenty of recipes online if it gets to that point where she’s not eating. So far, it seems like you’re doing all that you possibly could be!

As for the one with the swaying head, I can’t exactly picture it in my mind what you mean by that but I do have a silkie who does this odd circular almost kind of a swaying motion with her head? It’s hard to explain but she’s three years old now and doing great so it may not be anything to worry about!

I think you’re doing everything right. All you can do now is keep and eye on them and stay positive.

I wish I could attach a video here but it looks like when you spin around a bunch and then try to walk in a straight line is the best I can explain it! Like vertigo! It’s so odd. And intermittent?? Which makes it even more odd. The eye has gotten so much worse I just rinsed with warm water and saline again. The eye ointment was supposed to be delivered today but it’s not here yet. I hope that helps a lot once I can apply it..but here’s where I’m at…it’s SO swollen. I can separate the eyelids and its eye is fine underneath. I can’t seem to locate any cuts, no blood. It’s def congested. It squeaks every now and then like its nose is runny. I feel so bad for it

 

[Lunes]

All this sounds great and like you are doing everything that would otherwise be recommended.

This is concerning, but may also be nothing. You have given great info otherwise that rules out some of the more common, treatable ailments.

This looks like an excellent crumble, but I think you are correct in that some pieces are too big. It wouldn't be a bad idea to turn it to a mash (or our preference ferment it ) and maybe a little extra grit if mashing it.

This is excellent.

Hmmm - how often are you changing bedding? Sneezing can be easily attribute to dust from overly dry bedding. Chicks are very easily irritated by it. With the issues, I'd suggest changing bedding every other day for the time being, leaving 1/2 behind and adding a new 1/2. The old 1/2 will keep the good bacteria in the brooder, and the new hopeful keep the dust and debris down.

Don't see any issues here. Whatever is going on doesn't seem temp related in the slightest.

Okay thanks so much! I change it every day, or other day (depending on how dirty it is) sometimes I’ll put a fresh paper towel under the brooder plate multiple times a day just so their most frequented area is super clean. I’m using fresh flakes, but is there something else that’s less dusty, and more ideal? I see some people maybe using something like a sand? Is that worse than what I’m already using?

 

[Lunes]

Managed to get a photo of it just now as it was actually opening its eye. It’s so swollen!!! I can hear it sneezing or sniffling constantly. I hope it doesn’t die