Eyes Wide Shut

[ChickyChickyGirl]

I got an order from Cackle Thursday. Two blue silkies were DOA, then a third died Friday night. Also last night I found a blue polish with what must have been a broken neck. It was awful and I culled it immediately. Maybe she jumped on the heater plate and fell off on her head. I’m sad to have so many chick deaths.

Now I have a Blue Polish whose eyes are shut. What do I do? I opened them for her and she was able to so where to go for food and water. She was peeping loudly, which i now realize because she is blind and stressed. I will continue dipping her beak and opening her eyes when I see her.

With her black feathers on the eye, it seems like the eyeball!

 

[Cryss]

I have no ideas but definitely want to follow .

 

[Kiki]

Where about are you located?

Bath tubs are usually COLD.
If you are anywhere near cold weather I bet your tub is TOO cold for them.
Can you get the remaining ones out of the tub and into something else asap?

 

[Cryss]

Where about are you located?

Bath tubs are usually COLD.
If you are anywhere near cold weather I bet your tub is TOO cold for them.
Can you get the remaining ones out of the tub and into something else asap?

Nice catch! I didn't notice the tub. Yes, get a big box and get them warm! What set up do you have for heat? Lamp? The mama cave thingy made from brand new heating pad? I forget what they call it.

 

[ChickyChickyGirl]

The eyes folks! What do I do about the eyes of this chick?


1. This is what @Wyorp Rock said in another post:

“It's hard to know what that is in a newly hatched chick, I would guess eye infection. Try to get it open gently to see if there is an eyeball in there (hard to do with such a tiny baby).
General eye care would be to flush with saline or sterile water to get out any debris or pus, then apply an ophthalmic ointment like Terramycin or Vetericyn eye gel.”

2. Someone also recommended Nutridench.

3. Another poster asked if polysporin is OK. Seems like these are drops for pink eye. Someone said they were.

(The internet says this for human usage:
This medication is used to treat eye infections. This product contains bacitracin and polymyxin, antibiotics that work by stopping the growth of bacteria.
This medication treats only bacterial eye infections. It will not work for other types of eye infections (e.g., infections caused by viruses, fungi, mycobacteria). Unnecessary use or misuse of any antibiotic can lead to its decreased effectiveness.)


Any other thoughts, since the eyes are not puffy.


4. I’ll also call Cackle and see what they say; I hope it’s not genetic. For the weak chick that died along with its hatchmates, they instructed me to give 1 quart of water with 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar for pasty butt (although The chicks didn’t have that yet). I gave them Sav-A-Chicks and Electrolytes in their first warm water drink. Chicks are otherwise spunky, even the semi-blind one.


Photos follow of:
1. Chicks in shipping box.
2. Two DOA
3. My tub set-up which works well enough, less the mess. I get to see them very frequently as I work from home. I plan to move them to the barn at two weeks, to combine them with another batch that is currently between 3 and 5 weeks old (max is 4 week age gap).

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Two blue silkies were DOA, then a third died Friday night. Also last night I found a blue polish with what must have been a broken neck. It was awful and I culled it immediately. Maybe she jumped on the heater plate and fell off on her head. I’m sad to have so many chick deaths.

Now I have a Blue Polish whose eyes are shut. What do I do? I opened them for her and she was able to so where to go for food and water. She was peeping loudly, which i now realize because she is blind and stressed. I will continue dipping her beak and opening her eyes when I see her.

The eyes folks! What do I do about the eyes of this chick?

Are the eyes crusted over or stuck? What is wrong with the eyes. I suppose I'm not understanding your last post? IF the eyes are stuck closed (glued to together from discharge or infection), then yes....General eye care is to flush them out, clean any crust/gunk out of them and then apply an eye ointment.

Your chick looks like it has it's eyes closed - I don't really see any gunk...a chicken that's keeping it's eyes closed does not feel well. See if you can get some Poultry Nutri-Drench or even a little sugar water into her. She may be suffering from shipping stress.
Encourage her to drink and eat, watch to see if she is getting under the plate to warm up.

Chicks necks are very strong even though chicks are fairly fragile, I don't see how a neck can be broken from jumping off the top of the heater plate, that's only a few inches.

 

[ChickyChickyGirl]

Crap!! Another chick is sick, this time just sitting there listless. Help! Is this disease they got from Cackle Hatchery? They were vaccinated for Mareks. It’s not standing up and it seems to be wobbly.

 

[Fishkeeper]

What's the temperature in the main brooder, and under the heat plate? What are you feeding? Any signs of pasty butt?
And I don't think a chick broke its neck jumping off the heater plate. How was it acting?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Crap!! Another chick is sick, this time just sitting there listless. Help! Is this disease they got from Cackle Hatchery? They were vaccinated for Mareks. It’s not standing up and it seems to be wobbly.

Are they eating/drinking?
What's the temperature?

You were asked some questions in previous posts about the eye, but there's no answer - is that chick any better or the same?

 

[ChickyChickyGirl]

The eye chick had one eye open, with the other eye goopy. I just gave her a dose of Terramycin in both eyes.

I just gave the newly sick one Nutri-Dench, plus added it to their water.

Is this Cocci?