Chick with freakishly HUGE eye sacks- mutation or infection? Doing poorly, help would be appreciated

[Rebacopter32]

Hello, I have a chick here with, as you can see, some pretty gnarly eyes. It was part of a hatch that just finished today. Half of the hatch came out fine, but less than a third of the hatch died of shrink wrap. This little guy was cement glued to his shell, so I had to help him out by ungluing him with warm water. He doesn't respond well to touch (most chicks will chirp or run away if they are touched) but he barely acknowledges it. He’s very sleepy and does not move a whole lot unless he is flipped upside down.He can open his eyes (or at least one of them) but I cannot tell if he is blind or not. He’s probably 9 hours or so old at the moment and is still digesting yolk, so he has not eaten or drank anything as of this point. It hatched on day 21. His eyes have huge, swolen sacks under/behind/around them, resembling one of those hideous googly-eyed goldfish. It’s almost like they are giant cysts. It really is quite disturbing. Also, he cannot walk, and he moves around crawling with his wings from time to time (I've never seen a chick do this before!) I am quite worried. It does NOT look like he is in pain, and I don’t want to cull him just because he is ugly if he can live life without problems. I’m just at a loss as to what is wrong with him. He chirps every now and then when he is uncomfortable. I’m also wondering if this can make him blind?. Every other chick but two are healthy. Oh yea, he has curled toes too, but I plan on giving him vitamin water for that, so that’s no problem. Help? Should I cull him, or is this something treatable? I currently have him separated from the healthy chicks just in case this is an infection of some sort. His eyes looked like this the moment he came out of the egg. Can he live with this if it is just a weird mutation?

 

[TTracy]

I have no clue about the eyes, sorry. But as for the curled toes, I believe you will need to also tape them. The faster you do this the better the results.
http://www.thepamperedpulletsfarm.com/Curled_Toes.html

 

[pwand]

I wonder if the chick has an under developed brain, possibly missing part of its scull or deformed. Its possible he is blind. I feel he probably wont survive. Its a deformity. It must be hard to see this and trying to do the right thing for the chick. I feel nature will take its course.

 

[Rebacopter32]

Yea, I kind of felt that deep down... Oh well. I put little "shoes" on him for his toes. He's still alive, active and chirping, oddly enough. He can only open one eye, and it appears cloudy. I looked at the other eye and it has mucus in it. Who knows. If he eats and drinks, I might give him antibiotics and see what happens. If he can't eat or drink, I'll just put him out of his misery Thankfully, it doesn't look like he is in pain or suffering. I think he is blind for sure now, he can't find the food I put on his floor. If he stays blind and cant open his other eye permanently, I'll cull him. I don't think a blind chicken is a good idea. Well, we'll see what happens. I'm almost hoping he will die peacefully in his sleep or something, so I don't have to kill him myself D:

 

[pwand]

I know its such a hard decision to make.

 

[Rebacopter32]

Culled him today. He was doing fine until his eyes got infected (swollen, red, gross). I think it got infected because his flesh was dead under his eyes. Tried to prevent it with neosporin, didn't work. He was improving, started to try to walk right, and both his eyes fully opened, but I don't have to heart to make him suffer through antibiotics. Plus I'm 99% sure he was blind. Oh well ): At least I know for next time, don't save chicks with deformities.. and don’t get attached to them either.

 

[TTracy]

So sorry!!

 

[pwand]

So sorry for your loss. Hugs