4 day old chick isn't seeing

[sassykassy99]

I just have a quick question. I had a batch of chicks that went through a couple issues.. power went out for 6 hours in the first week of incubation, and again in the last few days. We lost most of them. Only 8 of 15 hatched. The last to hatch was small and didn't seem to want to eat. I tried wetting the food and it didn't seem to know where it was. Her eyes look fine, but she closes them allot. The others picked on her and so I separated her. Now she's eating wet food off my finger (hit n miss pecking) and water off a q-tip. She seems to want to be held tightly and buries her face. If she's not being held snugly, she's constantly chirping loudly. (Scared chirp) normal peeping when feeding. No peeping while snuggled.

 

[Chad Oftedal]

I don't have any direct experience with chick blindness, but your question was pretty interesting, so I did a bit of research to learn more.

I found this link that lists a test for blindness, and also describes some visual things to look for in their eyes. From your description, she doesn't have the blue or grayish, discolored pupils that are one of the more obvious signs. They do describe a simple test that sounds pretty easy to perform.

Searching here on BYC, I found some posts where people talked about having chicks that weren't fully blind, but had depth perception or focus issues. This might be more in line with what your chick is experiencing? Folks did some high contrast help for the chickens, and that seemed to help - i.e. putting the food in a brightly colored bowl or something that would stand out making it easier for them to see.

The fact that she's cheeping when not being held tightly may be more related to the fact that she's separated and wants to be with others. Just speculating, but this sounds like more normal separation anxiety than having issues with seeing. For helping with separation, I've seen folks recommend putting a small stuffed animal in with the chick so they have something to snuggle in to and sort of a "buddy" to be around.

Best of luck! I'll be following the thread to see what you learn over time.

 

[sassykassy99]

I did have the chick with the others, but they kept picking on it. I've done the stuffed animal thing with a duckling. In the past. I'll try it with this one. I do have water in a red dish and I'll put the feed on one and see if it helps. Thanks!

 

[Chad Oftedal]

Sounds like you're on top of it! Great job! Keep us posted on how the chick does.