Chick with a deformed eye socket/eye

[Terri H]

Hello! I have this Barred Plymouth Rock chick that hatched from my own incubator with a deformed eye/eye socket. I have had a total of 71 chicks hatch and this is the first time I have had this. It doesn't seem like she can see out of that eye, but can see out of the other one. She's also pretty quiet. During incubation there were 2 days in a row that I was only able to turn my eggs twice each day due to unforeseen circumstances. I was thinking this was caused by the lack of turning the eggs those two days, but I'm just not sure. Looking for other opinions as to what may have caused this. I was wondering if anyone has ever come across this? If so, what's the outcome for the chick? So far (she) is doing good. She pushes her way through to the water and feeder. This chick has come from my own flock of Barred Rocks. Also (her) skull seems a bit wider. When I look at her compared to the rest of the chicks I can see a difference in the skull formation.

 

[Nocila]

Is it possible that her parents were brother and sister? I've heard that, while it's safe to line-breed, inbreeding can cause problems... I've got a hen that is completely blind in one eye (due to an infection), and she's been doing just fine for the past three months or so (but part of that could be due to the fact that she has had a bird watch over her since she first started to have problems).

If the eye doesn't seem to bother her, she might do just fine, though I would probably avoid breeding her, in case it is genetic, and could be passed on to her children...

 

[Terri H]

There is a slight possibility that the parents are brother & sister. I figured with hatching out so many of the eggs from them that if they were related I would have seen more deformities in the chicks. I don't plan on incubating any eggs that I get from her. Glad your hen is doing good! Gives me hope for this one.

 

[Nocila]

I don't know too much about inbreeding, but it kind of sounds like a genetic problem to me.

I bought my silkie (Monk), along with another silkie (Puff) from someone who had kept them in the same pen. The two hens were raised together, so when Monk started to have issues (she was attacked when I introduced her to the coop, and I had to separate her from the flock for about a month), I kept Monk and Puff together. A few weeks after letting Monk and Puff back into the coop, Monk developed an infection in her eye, and now she's completely blind, but Puff and Monk have been through enough, that Puff quickly decided to care for Monk as long as she needed her. In my old coop (which was off the ground by about 6 inches), Monk couldn't get up into the coop if she went outside, So Monk and Puff ended up spending all of their time in the coop. Now, we have a new coop, and Monk can actually get herself in and out without much trouble, so Puff has started to let Monk be on her own. It has been a rather amazing process to watch!

As long as your coop is pretty low to the ground, or you have a good ramp to the coop (the ramp we had on the old coop was broken... part of a very long list of why we rebuilt the coop...), your bird should be able to get in and out of the coop. Otherwise, I'd make sure the food and water are available from inside the coop, as she may have trouble getting in the coop if she has to leave it for some reason.

 

[mollybuck]

I had a wyandotte x maran cross that had something similar, except that she couldnt get out of the egg... i helped just a little and saw that her foot was in her eye, there was a cut on the lid and it is stretched out over the eye.. i dont think she can see either, but other than that she has gotten along just fine and is 11 months old. she lays well and is a little more skiddish than the others.. but thats ok.. crow is a sweet girl!

 

[Terri H]

Well the chick is now 4 1/2 weeks old and the eye is still bulging out. It looks like the entire eye is on the outside part of her skull. The lower part of her lid comes up over the eye. I think she has slight vision in that eye. She is getting around great, a little smaller then the other chicks, but she's holding her own. I will try to post an updated picture this week.

 

[Nocila]

I had a rooster who was born looking normal, but at around a year old, his eye ended up between his skull and the skin (we think a chicken pecked his eye in :/). He seemed to get around ok, but we ended up losing him because he had too much trouble finding food and water. I'd make sure that she's getting enough food and water, because some birds learn to work better than others when they lose sight in one eye. Considering the fact that she was born with only one eye working properly, she should do just fine, but I'd still keep an eye on her, just to be certain.

Glad to hear that she seems to be doing well though!