Baby chick won't open one eye... Help!

[jgnveg]

We're hatching Buff Orpington/Americana mixed chicks right now in one box, and Bantams in another. Now that we have six of the mixed chicks, we noticed one of them won't open one eye. We're thinking (but don't know for sure) that perhaps the others pecked it and irritated it. We put that chick in the Bantam's box (which only has the youngest Bantam; the others have been moved to the mother Bantam outside; this one will be moved later tonight) half an hour ago, but she still won't open it. We checked for goop or crust, and found nothing. We tried using some warm water on the end of a Q-Tip, but she won't (or, we're thinking, can't) open the one eye. We're worried there might be an infection. What are your suggestions? Is there another way we can try to get her to open the eye, or should we take her to the feed store/ vet for help?

 

[gardengirl4288]

Did it have it's eye open at any point that you saw since hatching? Could it be a deformity?

 

[jgnveg]

As soon as each chick is dry, I pull her out of the incubator and do a simple body check. She was fine before we added her to the others. That's why we're thinking it might have been caused by another chick pecking her eye