Just hatched baby Serama chick having motor difficulties- can it be helped?

[Bocktobery 10]

They are all so cute

She does have some catching up to do. Hopefully when she gets adjusted she can start eating on her own. I know there are members here that keep blind chickens, so it is doable. You may want to see if they have any tips.

These two threads look like they have very recent activity.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1024494/keeping-a-blind-chicken
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/574213/blind-chicken-what-do-i-do

Thanks. I am totally understanding now what the serama love is all about... oh my gosh! They are so sweet!

With my little blind girl..she's still having some problems. I can tell she is really frustrated with her situation. I think not only is she lonely but bored too- and maybe stressed. I will have to start asking some people around here for some help with her. She has grown in this past week, so i am happy that she is still growing. I can feel her keel bone though... not good. Its always been like that though, so I think as long as I keep trying to slowly up the food intake she is at least surviving. Its very difficult to get food into her. I think she gets so excited about it, the food, that she squirms like crazy and kicks her legs. Sometimes she calms down, but its difficult and frustrating for me too. Poor thing though. Hope I can get her at least adjusted and happy. \
Thank you so much for the links.. I will be checking that out very soon!

 

[Bocktobery 10]

That was Happy at 2 1/2 weeks. The first day he stood on his own! You can see his head is still tilted up. Your little ones are all adorable! What you describe about spinning in circles when startled or excited is Happy to a tee and he still does that today. My brother calls him Sideshow Bob lol. He also whines like none of my other chickens. He wants to be picked up often and spins at my feet and whines until he gets his way. I think he saw too much of my cats as a chick because he really doesn't act like a chicken. I never actually considered that Happy may have a vision disability until reading about your little Serama. But there are so many similarities that perhaps he does. I know he can see...but maybe not normally.
Your little one will catch up with her feathers and growth. Happy was far behind his hatch mates as well. He still isn't as big as his dad but close enough. Keep up your great work. I'm sure you are in a routine by now. When she doesn't need you so much you won't know what to do with yourself!

Thanks again so much for this. ... And I love that picture of your little Happy.. Wow, did he change a lot!

Yes, she acts very strange. Very different from all the other serama chicks. Unfortunately she is still not eating on her own.. I can tell she wants to, but just doesn't know how. I have a terry cloth towel down for her in her cage and I put chick feed all over the towel so that there is food everywhere beneath her feed to eat... but I think she only gets bits and pieces- never any real substantial amount... I'm starting to wonder if she actually feels hunger pains? Or maybe she can't smell or recognize food. I've witnessed her picking at the terry cloth and pulling up. In fact, she did this to my skin when I had her sitting on my bare arm once- So I know that she can bite at least. She doesn't seem to know how to maneuver herself to do the actions. She still has a tick with her head- it moves almost constantly. She also seems to tremble sometimes still. Not sure if this is from some sort of ailment, or muscular-electro problem or if its related to blindness, or even fear/stress... just not sure.

Heh.. sideshow bob... yes, this little gal of mine is quite , well, a weirdo. She has antics I can't explain. She walks in a very humorous endearing way. And yes, she whines so so so so much now. And at times I can't even figure out what it is she is whining about. Often its the middle of the night.. and yes, I'm used to the routine by now, but oh my gosh do I need my sleep! I've found feeding her helps, but other times I think she is awake and just so bored, not knowing what to do. I've been trying to think up ways of how I might be able to entertain her. I think she likes to listen to talk radio, or even sometimes nice music, so I leave that on for her. It seems to perk her up- give her something to do. She runs around like crazy now and falls off the bed, runs under the refrigerator... all sorts of getting into trouble. I have a cat that is half wild but stays indoors most of the time so its not been fun to worry about him getting to her! I know when she is bigger it will be ok, but for now, there is that danger... something I'm sure she has no sense about at all! She sure acts like there is no such thing as danger!

I've been thinking about introducing things with different (safe) textures by putting them in the cage with her- that way she'd have something to do, but perhaps that would not interest her, and I'm not sure how many different things I can give her- I can only think of a few things- wood blocks and marbles. I put a cantaloupe shell (with some flesh still on it) and some broken up grapes in her cage for her today to 'explore' but I can't say I saw her have any interest in them at all. (Didn't really have time to observe that long really) Its been so frustrating! I've thought about grabbing my broody hen's lone chick and putting it in there with her, but I think it would just upset the poor chick, taking it away from its mamma. So, I'm just at a loss as to what to do!

I believe most of the whining is from begin needy- I really think she wants interaction.... something I can't always give to her, so I sometimes doubt I'm doing a good thing for her. To be honest, the thought of putting her down has come to mind several times. I've said that before, but I wonder what the quality of her life will be like.. and if I'm always going to have to do all this for her. I thought about giving her up for 'adoption' but really I don't think anyone else would look after her the way I would (and can you really trust a stranger to do with your chick what they say they will?)... so I hold on to hope things are going to get better with her. (Honestly, i don't think I could do it anyway... she has a way of growing on me!). So I do thank you for sharing what you shared here about your Happy... its encouraging. As you said, when she does figure out how to take care of herself I won't know what to do with myself!

I'm having fun with the experience though. This makes me think a lot about how it is for blind people and what ways they might experience life differently than those who are not, something I've not really thought about (this in depth) before. The situation certainly has its challenges and I feel very badly for her, even though she seems to get along okay, so far.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Ok entertainment ideas for a lonely chick...brace yourself because I'm a bit of an expert on this topic lol. Here's a list of things I tried with Happy. Some were successful some not.
A shallow bowl of dirt to scratch and dust bath (he hated it and still has an aversion to getting dirty!)
A dug up piece of sod (a huge hit-he grass bathed only until he was 6 months old)
A mirror (if she can see at all you will know quickly as Happy was glued to it for hours)
A bell or small wind chime hanging so she can peck it
A bit of shredded cheese
A small cat ball with bells in it
Big pieces of pine shavings (I use this as coop bedding and found out by accident that Happy loved to pick these up and move them around)
Leaves or a leaf of lettuce
Stuffed animal
Flower
Cat kibbles (his all time favourite to scratch and fling around)
A blanket piled up to climb
Hair elastics - the thick covered ones (he would beat these up like he thought they were worms lol)
Last but not least....hubby bought him a baby's piano toy. Embarrassing to admit that now lol. He pecked at the keys to make as much noise as he could. It's no wonder the poor boy isn't normal!
Hope you can find something useful. Bless your heart for all the care you've given your little one.

I must say @chickcrack these are fantastic ideas!
Have you thought about posting an article here on BYC with your experiences. I would read it for sure and I bet it would help others

I would have loved seeing him play the piano - sounds too cute!

 

[chickcrack]

Thanks Wyorp Rock! I will try to pull something together. Unfortunately Happy gave up his musical inclinations when he hit puberty and noticed girls lol.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Thanks Wyorp Rock! I will try to pull something together. Unfortunately Happy gave up his musical inclinations when he hit puberty and noticed girls lol.

Typical boy!

 

[Bocktobery 10]

Some pics of her taken a few days ago.


Its very difficult to get a photo of her because of her head twitch.







She is not growing... I don't think this is a good sign. She is hanging in there though and doing a bit better at finding things, although not much, sadly. I'm preparing myself for the worst, but hopefully she'll prove me wrong.

 

[Bocktobery 10]

Ok entertainment ideas for a lonely chick...brace yourself because I'm a bit of an expert on this topic lol. Here's a list of things I tried with Happy. Some were successful some not.
A shallow bowl of dirt to scratch and dust bath (he hated it and still has an aversion to getting dirty!)
A dug up piece of sod (a huge hit-he grass bathed only until he was 6 months old)
A mirror (if she can see at all you will know quickly as Happy was glued to it for hours)
A bell or small wind chime hanging so she can peck it
A bit of shredded cheese
A small cat ball with bells in it
Big pieces of pine shavings (I use this as coop bedding and found out by accident that Happy loved to pick these up and move them around)
Leaves or a leaf of lettuce
Stuffed animal
Flower
Cat kibbles (his all time favourite to scratch and fling around)
A blanket piled up to climb
Hair elastics - the thick covered ones (he would beat these up like he thought they were worms lol)
Last but not least....hubby bought him a baby's piano toy. Embarrassing to admit that now lol. He pecked at the keys to make as much noise as he could. It's no wonder the poor boy isn't normal!
Hope you can find something useful. Bless your heart for all the care you've given your little one.

This is superb! Thank you!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Some pics of her taken a few days ago.


Its very difficult to get a photo of her because of her head twitch.







She is not growing... I don't think this is a good sign. She is hanging in there though and doing a bit better at finding things, although not much, sadly. I'm preparing myself for the worst, but hopefully she'll prove me wrong.

She is so cute.
You have done a wonderful job taking care of her.
I'm sorry to hear that she is still not out of the woods. I know you are doing everything you can.

Thank you for the update.

 

[chickcrack]

She is absolutely adorable!

 

[Bocktobery 10]

Thanks everyone. I'll post updates periodically... as I said before just for information sake- just in case someone else has a chick like this and is curious to see the outcome. Post will probably be slow going though because she is not changing much at all. Thanks also for your encouragement and kind words.

The feathers that are coming in are light grey... has anyone ever heard of a light grey serama? She seems to be shedding the yellowish baby chick down.... except for on her head. I think she may be what is known as a silkie serama... not sure though. Her feathers are not 'normal'.. in either the silkie sense or the regular feather sense. She's got very long feathers coming out the backside of her head. I am assuming all this is from whatever ailment she has. She looks rather scruffy... which also concerns me. This gives me the hunch she may not be getting the nutrition she needs. Anyway, we'll see.... I'll update and post.

I just wanted to add that she does look better in person than in the photos- just can't get a good photo of her. Her eyes are very pretty and big- the pupils are enlarged - not all the way but just larger than normal chicken eye pupil- so i guess that helps. The pupils never get smaller or larger and are in fixed position. I have a feeling she may be able to see a little bit because I had her outside with me and when another hen came around she came close to me... so it may be she can see, but that signals are messed up, blurred... who knows. Maybe she just heard or sensed the other chicken approaching.