CHICK EYES

[gal4chicks]

I'm so happy to find this forum. Hoping to gain a lot of knowledge about my chickens. My current question is....I have hatched one chick who will be a week old on MON. Yesterday I noticed he started keeping his bottom eyelids CLOSED 'most' of the time. He has begun cheeping LOUDLY when left alone in the cage. He has 5 other brooder mates that were purchasedto keep him company. I pick him up to soothe him when he gets noisy but I'm wondering if perhaps he is 'going' blind?

He is from a batch of 47 eggs I bought from a local farmer for hatching. The farmer collected the eggs over a period of two weeks or so and kept them in the refrigerator as he collected them for me. Out of the 47 eggs only ONE hatched. I'm wondering if putting them in the fridge has delayed or aborted the hatching rate and HOW long should I keep the other eggs. At 25 days I broke FOUR eggs and TWO of them had chicks and two were just egg gunk. Should I destroy the remaining 42 eggs and start over or give them a few more days to hatch?

I am also collecting my own eggs from my hens and putting them in the incubator immediately when I get them. So, I'm hoping to get some chicks soon. Thanks for your advise.

 

[bingrancher]

Usually hatch rate goes way down after 10 days and i think most people store eggs in a cool dark spot before hatching. I think a fridge is too cold. Id toss the rest and use your own

 

[TwoCrows]

I'm so happy to find this forum. Hoping to gain a lot of knowledge about my chickens. My current question is....I have hatched one chick who will be a week old on MON. Yesterday I noticed he started keeping his bottom eyelids CLOSED 'most' of the time. He has begun cheeping LOUDLY when left alone in the cage. He has 5 other brooder mates that were purchasedto keep him company. I pick him up to soothe him when he gets noisy but I'm wondering if perhaps he is 'going' blind?

He is from a batch of 47 eggs I bought from a local farmer for hatching. The farmer collected the eggs over a period of two weeks or so and kept them in the refrigerator as he collected them for me. Out of the 47 eggs only ONE hatched. I'm wondering if putting them in the fridge has delayed or aborted the hatching rate and HOW long should I keep the other eggs. At 25 days I broke FOUR eggs and TWO of them had chicks and two were just egg gunk. Should I destroy the remaining 42 eggs and start over or give them a few more days to hatch?

I am also collecting my own eggs from my hens and putting them in the incubator immediately when I get them. So, I'm hoping to get some chicks soon. Thanks for your advise.

Welcome to BYC!

This is the quail section of the forums so this entire thread may get moved to a proper location. But that is ok. You will get down to the bottom of this eventually.

Never store hatching eggs in the frig. It can destroy the embryo's. Eggs are stored for no more than 10 days, on your kitchen counter, large end up, in egg cartons. As you are storing them, (between 50 and 60 degrees) give them a rotation a few times a day to keep the embryo's alive. Eggs that are older than 10 days start to deteriorate and the hatch rate starts to decline.

So in this case, probably storing them in the frig did some damage. If I were you, I wouldn't bother with any of these eggs. It is always best to collect and hatch your own eggs. Eggs from your own hens. It is best for immunity and health of the chicks from momma's on your own turf.

Store them as described above. Have your incubator all warmed up and humidity stable before setting your eggs.

The chick with the eye problem is no doubt a result of improper egg storage. I do not know if there is anything you can do for him. You can put a feather duster turned up side down with the feathers down so he can snuggle up inside the feathers for comfort. Even a small stuffed animal he can cuddle with.

If you run into any emergencies and want to post a question about chicks or chickens, you can post in the "Emergency" section of the forums...

https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/10/emergencies-diseases-injuries-and-cures

If you have any questions about incubation of the eggs, you can also post here in the "Incubation" section as well...

https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/5/incubating-hatching-eggs

Good luck with your baby. I hope he recovers soon.

Again, welcome to BYC!