Blind, Half-Deaf, Small Chick Died

[Crazy Chicken Keeper]

I imported some eggs all the way from Invercargill (900 km from Taranaki, where I live),and I had six hatch. 3 others tried to hatch upside down and suffocated which I should have forseen. But the last chick to hatch was half the size of her siblings. The next day, I realised she was blind, so I started taking special care for her. Then I realised she was half deaf - peeping very louly all the tiime, couldn't hear me coming - and I was thinking 'Shoot, this isn't good'. Then she died at a week old. I've been wondering about why she had these defections. I thought

1: Shipping problems
2: Bad temperature in the incubator (I have a good one but it was cheap)
3: Bad genetics (but the rooster was from an esteemed line and the other 5 are all way voer average size)
4: Hatching problems or
5: Strange air sack.

Which is the most likely? She was a blue Orpington if that helps, and it was a female. She hatched on the night of Day 21 so slightly late. She had trouble hatching and I had to help her a but, she did have a funny vein over her body. She took over 20 hours to hatch but the one behind her in the photo took longer and he is healthy

Was it my fault, the traders fault, or neither of our faults? How can I prevent it in the future?

The one in the front is the blind one, the one at the back was the smallest of the other five but now he's caught up to the other four

 

[Debbie292d]

Does the one you say is blind have it's eyes open or are they matted shut? It appears to be the latter to me from what I can tell. I'd take a wet warm washcloth, hold it for a couple of seconds to its eyes and gently wipe. It's extremely rare for a chick to hatch blind.

It's also extremely rare for a chick to hatch deaf. Excessive chirping usually means their cold, hungry, or thirsty.

What is the temperature they're at? They should be around 90°F - 95°F for a week, then you can lower it 5 degrees per week.

Do you have chick crumbles and fresh water for them?

I have had eggs shipped to me dozens of times, as I'm a silkie breeder, always getting new stock, genes, etc. This year, here in the U.S., shipping has been brutal, and I was lucky to get 30% to hatch from all batches, no matter what part of the country they came from. After hatching over 500 silkies this year, I've had some shipped ones be "saddled," but those usually hatch themselves. A couple I had to help out. Not one of those was blind or deaf.

 

[Mother of Chaos]

If she was half the size of the others at hatch, I would think that she had defects from the very beginning, whether inherited or something that happened early in the shell.

I’m sorry that you had such a rough time with your hatching.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Some chicks hatch with birth defects. The potential reasons are many. It could have to do with genetics, something about how the egg was put together inside the hen, or something that happened during storage, shipping, or incubation. It can be very hard to determine exactly why this happened to one specific egg.

When you have to help a chick hatch there is a reason the chick cannot manage on its own. Sometimes that is not necessarily the chicks fault, sometimes it is. About half of the chicks I help hatch do not survive. There was something wrong with them to start with.

With that chick being so small, blind, and deaf there was obviously something seriously wrong with it to start with. You did the best you could, you can't do any better than your best. When you deal with living animals you sometimes have to deal with dead animals. That's just the way life works. It probably doesn't do you any good but look at the ones that did hatch OK as a success and try to think about them.

 

[Crazy Chicken Keeper]

Thank you everybody, she was kept in good conditions with very considerate roommates. This is all great advice