Day old Serama chick can't see?

[Weeg]

Some chicks born with bulging eyes may be blind and die eventually. There are a number of BYC threads about chicks born with one or both eyes bulging. It seems to be a common defect. I hope your chick doesn’t have that problem though.

What a sweet little guy. Unfortunately, he's showing signs of have genetic defects that are apt to prevent him growing up normally. When you have one very visible anomaly like those eyes and then behavior that is concerning, the chick likely has more problems hidden from view.

As @JacinLarkwell said, the chick may not be a keeper. If it were mine, I would watch it over the next few days, and if its behavior declines rather than improves, I would euthanize it.

Thank you both for your help, this info is very good to know. Darn, poor baby. I'll keep doing my best, thank you for the fare warning. I do hope he improves, I've made the mistake of becoming quite attached to this little one.
I'll keep trying the egg yolk mixture, I was about to get him to eat a little more today which still isn't much, but a huge improvement from not eating anything. He made happy little clucks while he ate it so that was encouraging to me as well.

Are the defects something that occurs from breeding, or the parent birds, or is it just a random thing that can happen? I know that defects can randomly pop up sometimes, so I'm just interested to know if this is something that may be in the breeders lines.
Thanks again for your information, this is curtail to me, I'm just sad it isn't good news.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Thank you both for your help, this info is very good to know. Darn, poor baby. I'll keep doing my best, thank you for the fare warning. I do hope he improves, I've made the mistake of becoming quite attached to this little one.
I'll keep trying the egg yolk mixture, I was about to get him to eat a little more today which still isn't much, but a huge improvement from not eating anything. He made happy little clucks while he ate it so that was encouraging to me as well.

Are the defects something that occurs from breeding, or the parent birds, or is it just a random thing that can happen? I know that defects can randomly pop up sometimes, so I'm just interested to know if this is something that may be in the breeders lines.
Thanks again for your information, this is curtail to me, I'm just sad it isn't good news.

Sometimes it's ransom, sometimes it's because of an outside force, sometimes the parents genes just don't click right

 

[azygous]

Sometimes it's breeding, but lots of times it's just a fluke in the embryo development. Perhaps an environmental factor, temperature drop or spike or bacteria, or the egg getting bumped around too roughly.

It's very sad when you run into a little chick with these issues. Not all of them can overcome them. But we always give such a chick all the supportive care we can on the off chance it's something that can resolve with time and care. There's always hope. Until there isn't.

 

[FloorCandy]

Thank you both for your help, this info is very good to know. Darn, poor baby. I'll keep doing my best, thank you for the fare warning. I do hope he improves, I've made the mistake of becoming quite attached to this little one.
I'll keep trying the egg yolk mixture, I was about to get him to eat a little more today which still isn't much, but a huge improvement from not eating anything. He made happy little clucks while he ate it so that was encouraging to me as well.

Are the defects something that occurs from breeding, or the parent birds, or is it just a random thing that can happen? I know that defects can randomly pop up sometimes, so I'm just interested to know if this is something that may be in the breeders lines.
Thanks again for your information, this is curtail to me, I'm just sad it isn't good news.

I had a quail with bulging eyes, it was a double silver that came from a hatchery group of eggs. Double silvers notoriously have issues, bulging eyes being one of the most common. I raised him successfully into adulthood, but had to cull him when he started trying to fight his brother. Since they were both blind I had hoped they just wouldnt encounter each other much, and if they did, wouldn’t be able to give chase, but you’d be surprised how well they learn to get around. Since Snowflake was healthy, and Popeye was, you know, pop eyed, so I culled Popeye.

In Popeye’s case it was his particular mix of genes, but some are born that way with seemingly no reason behind it, no bulge eyed parents or siblings, and one is just a weirdo. In nature these guys would probably be eaten by predators right away and would not have a chance to pass the defects on.

 

[Weeg]

Sometimes it's breeding, but lots of times it's just a fluke in the embryo development. Perhaps an environmental factor, temperature drop or spike or bacteria, or the egg getting bumped around too roughly.

This is what I assumed, it seems more likely that it was a random thing. All my others are healthy, so probably a fluke.

It's very sad when you run into a little chick with these issues. Not all of them can overcome them. But we always give such a chick all the supportive care we can on the off chance it's something that can resolve with time and care. There's always hope. Until there isn't.

This is slightly reassuring. He hasn’t been declining, I think he’s actually been getting more energetic each day. He ate way more then yesterday today both times I fed him. He still can’t find the waterer on his own, but he does drink in his own after I dip his beak. He willingly takes egg yolk mixture snd feed mash from a syringe, and makes happy peeps while I feed him.
We just went out of town this afternoon, and will be back Sunday afternoon, but I have friends coming who will be able to syringe feed him twice a day. I’m crossing my fingers her hangs in there! Come on little Rusty!