How do I tell if duckling is blind?

[Duckville denizen]

I have a four day old Pekin duckling that seems to be either blind or have some sort of neurological problem. He is bright, alert, eats well when he can find the food, and other than his having difficulty finding his food and water and going in circles, he seems to be okay. He was turned out with his mother Monday, and whereas his siblings all jumped into the creek and started paddling away, he started swimming in circles. Later, when I went to check on them, a child had just finished freeing him from a crevice between two rocks in the creekbed. The next morning, I was awakened with the mother quacking loudly, and the baby peeping as if he were lost. Sure enough, he had plopped into a basin where we keep water for the big ducks and was frantically swimming in circles. I took him out, took him to his mother, and while the rest of the siblings ate and drank, he began wandering and managed to get completely away from them all and almost back into the creek. I brought him inside and have had him in a little cage here in the house. He has difficulty located the food and water, but when he does, he eats and drinks. I covered him with an old towel last night, and he slept well, only peeping when he was hungry this morning. What can I do with little Rounder?

 

[gofasterstripe]

I cant help you there but im sure ducksfromoz will come and chat to you, she has a blind duck called Stevie Ray. I have a 4 week old duckling with deformed eyes and can only see out of 1 of them, she can get around and walks with her head tilted so her good eye can see where she is going. If the others run off and leave her she goes round in circles untill she sees something move and runs that way. It was hard to watch when she was little. Every day she comes into the house for a bath in the kitchen sink so she can wash the crust from round her eyes....she doesnt have eye lids so cant clean them like a normal duck, plus she wont go in the pool with the other ducks..its like she hasnt figured it out yet.

 

[duckyfromoz]

Rounder sounds like she has the luck of a cat with none lives. Being so young I would suggest you continue to brood her inside until bigger when she will have a greater chance of surviving outside.
My Stevie-Ray had cloudy eyes when she hatched, So I knew something wasnt right very quickly and monitored her closely. The cloudiness faded after just a few days- and her eyes look normal now- but her vision at a guess would be around 5- 10 %. I know she can see light and dark as she can make her way to the door way of the shed in the morning by seeing the bright sunlight outside. Going back inside at night is a problem for her and see has to be pick up and carried.

She lives with the flock and copes well- She does stumble sometimes over the hose if I leave it out - and does have a favorite spot in the yard where she likes to sit so she has learnt the lay of the yard and generally does well getting around. I have one water container that stays in the exact same position whereas the kiddie pools get moved around- she can still make her way to the pools by following the sounds of the other birds.

When tiny- Stevie did turn circles - but she only did that for about a week. She has an odd stance about her - her legs are held further apart than my other runners as she walks in way so as to test the ground as she goes.

I did a few things back when she hatched to test her vision - reaction to light and movement at various angles away from her face, moving my pointed finger very quickly at one eye- that kind of thing. Now...I just love her for the beautiful duck she has grown to be. She must be coming up on her 1st birthday if I havent already missed it, and is the sweetest duck I have in my yard. She wander/stagger/ runs over to me when I call her name and loves cuddles.