HELP, My wife is in a panic

[rjfrazor]

Hi all. New to the group. We just hatched out , actually still hatching out our first batch of duck eggs. They started hatching late last night ( right on time ) and are still hatching out one by one, so far a very good hatch rate. Problem is some of the ducks ( Pekins) are coming out of their shells and their eyes are still closed. Some are dry and their eyes still have not opened. Everything I can find says they are born with their eyes wide open. My wife is in a panic as this is a very special hatch for her as today would have been her mom's birthday, but she lost her battle with cancer several months ago, which has been hard on her. Now she fears that she is going to lose alot of these babies. Any ideas or advice whether this is common, or is a bad sign, or what might be going on would be much appreciated.

 

[Carlascritters]

They may be sticky from fluid in the egg, wash the eyes gently with a soft cloth and warm water and then wait and see if they open them. Don't get into a panic, they should be ok.

 

[MandyH]

Sounds like humidity is too low and their eyes may be stuck shut. You can give them a bit and see if they open, or take a warm moist rag and GENTLY rub them to see if they loosen up.

 

[LA~Poulet]

I don't know about ducks, but I had a chick who kept his eyes closed for 24 hours (even after I gently washed them with a warm damp rag). Then he popped them open and hasn't slowed down since.

 

[Wifezilla]

It is most likely a humidity issue. Get some saline solution and rinse their eyes. My buff/khaki mutt was born with crusty eyes. I seriously thought she had a birth defect and had NO eyes and she was blind. After several rinses with saline solution, you could see she DID have eyes they were just all crusted. After about a week it completely cleared up. Her vision is perfect now at 4 months old

just hatched

a few weeks ago

 

[Cara]

I use a Q-tip with a weak saline solution, and sometimes have to gently pull the eyelids apart. It may recur once or twice, but it usually fixes itself very quickly.