3 New Silkies hatched 1 has no eyes open. Whats the chances of it making it?

CCMartin0831

In the Brooder
Mar 21, 2024
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Also the guy we got the eggs from says he only has black Silkies yet we hatched 1 buff, 1 black and 1 gray. Is that common?
 
Hello:frow I'm going to try and help with what I know. Hopefully someone with more experience will chime in!

When did they hatch? Has the chick with it's eyes closed ate or drank anything? Have you offered it any electrolyte water or sugar water?

As far as color genetics go I still have a lot to learn.
But if he only had black silkies I believe all offspring should be black.
Buff can only come from two buff parents.
As for gray I'm unsure.
 
Yeah he claims all he has is black that’s why I was shocked to see diff colors pop out of the eggs.
I have put her/his beak in the water just slightly and it drank but doesn’t want any part of the food yet when I tried. They were born 2 1/2 days ago.
 
Hello:frow I'm going to try and help with what I know. Hopefully someone with more experience will chime in!

When did they hatch? Has the chick with it's eyes closed ate or drank anything? Have you offered it any electrolyte water or sugar water?

As far as color genetics go I still have a lot to learn.
But if he only had black silkies I believe all offspring should be black.
Buff can only come from two buff parents.
As for gray I'm unsure.
I adopted a partridge who had black and buff parents, so it might be partridge instead of buff. I think the black roo mated with lots of hens, or the black hen got mated by a lot of roosters. That's my best guess. Also, can't forget about recessive traits. There might have been a recessive white gene in one that combined to make gray.
 
Was the chick born without eyes? There's no chance of that chick making it unless you do all feedings yourself by hand. I have dealt with severely disabled chickens before and they cannot survive unless you handfeed consistently.

If the chick has eyes and they're just shut, you can pry them open gently by wetting the eye with a q-tip and wiggling the eyelid gently until it opens. I've had to do this a few times with chicks who are a little sticky after hatching and need assistance after drying out.
 
I adopted a partridge who had black and buff parents, so it might be partridge instead of buff. I think the black roo mated with lots of hens, or the black hen got mated by a lot of roosters. That's my best guess. Also, can't forget about recessive traits. There might have been a recessive white gene in one that combined to make gray.
Thanks for the information! I'm still learning about chicken genetics. And had read/been told that black to black results in mostly black. But I forgot to account for recessive traits:th

Genetics can be so difficult to understand! Hopefully this can help the OP!!
 

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