- Jun 29, 2012
- 1
- 0
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Hello BackYard Chickens! I want to say thank you for all of the helpful information I have found on your site in the past few weeks. I've done a lot of research on here and decided to finally just join!
I am brand new to chickens but am SO excited to now own four little Silkie chicks. A week ago, we picked up three silkies and a sizzle (Jemimah, Banjo, Mr. Karate, and Maria Louisa) and are already so attached to them all. They are only a few weeks old and I know they'll just get cuter as they grow. Sadly, we lost one of our chicks (Babs) just two days after picking her up. She was having trouble breathing and did not make it through the second night. So now I am a little bit paranoid about the rest of the chicks.
Jemimah has had some sort of eye irritation since we got her and it has not gone away. She keeps the eye shut most of the time, but occasionally opens it. It looks a little bit swollen but not too much. The feathers/area around her eye also has some debri/looks different, so I'm wondering if at one point she got pecked by another chick or got dirt near the eye. Not sure... keeping a close eye on it but not sure what to really do about it. Today she seems to have less energy than the others and is doing a tiny bit of gaping. Wondering if she has something stuck in her throat (I'm thinking we bought the wrong kind of feed and they may be trying to eat pieces too big for them).
If anyone reads this - I'd love to hear your thoughts on what might be going on with Jemimah, what I should do, and what kind of feed to give to six week old Silkies!
Thank you -
I am brand new to chickens but am SO excited to now own four little Silkie chicks. A week ago, we picked up three silkies and a sizzle (Jemimah, Banjo, Mr. Karate, and Maria Louisa) and are already so attached to them all. They are only a few weeks old and I know they'll just get cuter as they grow. Sadly, we lost one of our chicks (Babs) just two days after picking her up. She was having trouble breathing and did not make it through the second night. So now I am a little bit paranoid about the rest of the chicks.
Jemimah has had some sort of eye irritation since we got her and it has not gone away. She keeps the eye shut most of the time, but occasionally opens it. It looks a little bit swollen but not too much. The feathers/area around her eye also has some debri/looks different, so I'm wondering if at one point she got pecked by another chick or got dirt near the eye. Not sure... keeping a close eye on it but not sure what to really do about it. Today she seems to have less energy than the others and is doing a tiny bit of gaping. Wondering if she has something stuck in her throat (I'm thinking we bought the wrong kind of feed and they may be trying to eat pieces too big for them).
If anyone reads this - I'd love to hear your thoughts on what might be going on with Jemimah, what I should do, and what kind of feed to give to six week old Silkies!
Thank you -
from Ohio. So glad to have you aboard. I am not sure about the eye, maybe some ophthalmalic drops will help. I would check her throat to make sure she doesn't have a gap worm in her throat or maybe an impacted crop. I agree with 1muttsfan on the posting. More folks will see it there. Good luck. 
