Bad eyesight in a 5 week old?

[jesd]

Hey all,

Of the 6 day 5 week olds I have right now, all of them are happy and well. All of them love their treats too - mealworms and crickets being a big favorite. One of them (an EE), however, has been having some trouble getting the treats -- she (I hope!) used to be able to see them clearly and get them on the first peck (was, in fact, an accomplished treat thief), and now she'll peck at it but misses every time. She's usually pretty close though. I've hand fed her a few times, and she doesn't have trouble eating, but I think it's because she's able to eat from a wide pile and not a small point. I guess this has been going on about two weeks. Should I be worried about this? Even if not, I have to admit, I feel bad for the poor treatless girl.

Thanks for any advice!

 

[gritsar]

Have someone hold your chick for you. Bring you index finger closer and closer to each of her eyes and see at what point she blinks.
This is how we determined that one of my chickens is blind in one eye. Having the use of only one eye really messes with their depth perception.
As long as there is no infection in the eye, she should do just fine.
I know what you mean about the treats. Lil' Bit misses more than she hits. I take pity on her and offer her some of the treats from my hand. It results in lots of pecks to my hand.
The only other problem Lil' Bit has as a result of her partial blindness is not being able to get on the roost at night if she waits too long to go in. She waits for me at the coop door and I put her on the roost. Also, my rooster has somehow sensed that she has problems and he takes extra good care of her.

 

[jesd]

Great advice - thanks! Luckily mine doesn't sound quite so blind (yet at least -- we'll see how this goes). I'll try the blink test, and see if I can't think of some better way to give her treats. Thanks again!