Nearsighted chick?

[Diveks]

Hi everyone, i have a feeling my 3 week old chick has eye problems? Not sure if its normal behavior or not cause i have never raised a chick like this (a lone chick imprinted to me). He/she (i will call it her for now, even though i think she might be a he) gets startled easily, if something moves somewhat quickly near her or towards her she will jump. The chick is healthy and really active, exploring the house with me, jumping around, but acts a bit weird. I talk to the chick a lot and sing to songs to let the chick know im nearby. When i walk normally, the chick will follow me but if i walk silently the chick wont notice that im gone but 10 seconds later she will scream because she isn’t able to hear me. She can see close moving items like pencil tips, food, water (at least i think?) she hits walls/items randomly sometimes when she gets scared. Most chicks run when startled but she just falls on her back or hit items when running. Also if i am just 2 meters away from her (walk too fast) she will scream like I'm not right in front of her (i will usually pick her up after this). I had imprinted chicks that follow me around before but they won’t just stop following me if i walk 1.5 meter too far. She gets startled from sudden sounds even just the sound of tapping on the ground. She also get scared from sudden touches, even though she will run to my hand to sleep under. She sleeps beside my bed and if she panicks ay night she will calm down if she hears my voice. Could she be nearsighted or even blind?

Also a random question while im here, anyone have had chicks this color? And what color might she become? ordered 5 brahma and 5 bantam cochin eggs, she hatched from the one labeled bantam cochin but the egg she hatched from was much much bigger than the other bantam cochin eggs. Im guessing she is just a big bantam cochin.

 

[aart]

She needs a chick buddy.

 

[Chickensandhorsesforlife]

I’ve been looking for day old-week old chicks here but in my country its not common to have ‘fancy chickens’ could only find 3 month olds and adults. Plus i live in big city where people rarely have even meat/layer birds. Ill try to get her a friend, while im looking, i try to keep her company 24/7 bringing her everywhere to keep stress levels down. (Since its quarantine anyway i could give more attention to her)

You can get any breed for her. she is sooooooo cute

 

[Diveks]

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View attachment 2535353

Oh i live in indonesia. People here have a lot of chickens and random chickens usually roam streets in the non-city places. The problem here is i live in a big city where nobody have chickens. For all my chickens i got them shipped as eggs. The ones that sell chickens in my area are baby chicks for large farms, usually selling in the hundreds. There are occasional sellers that will sell individual chicks though im trying to look for them. Since we live in the tropics we never get snow or anything just rain.

 

[centralcaligirl]

I have an Easter Egger who can see but has had very poor vision since I got her as a day old chick. She had three other friends and I was able to compare their behavior but it still took a while to figure out what was going on. She walked into the walls of the brooder box and tripped and fell a lot, whereas none of the others did. She did much better when it was brightly lit (mid-afternoon), but what really tipped me off was that she couldn't see small treats on the ground.

I would occasionally put little bits of scrambled egg on the ground for them and the other three chicks would easily find and eat the little pieces of the egg, whereas this one would peck helplessly at the ground (she knew SOMETHING was there) but couldn't get any of the egg unless she randomly landed right on top of it. She is about 30 weeks old now and is doing fine, but still has to be fed treats separately out of a bowl because she just can't compete with the others. So maybe try sprinkling some small bits of cooked egg on the ground to see if she can find them.

Also, I do agree it would be good to get her a friend or two or three if you can find some. My girl stays very close to her friends in the garden. They seem to kind of lead her around and they chatter a lot so having a companion could help her feel less stressed and alone, even when you are nearby.

 

[Diveks]

I have an Easter Egger who can see but has had very poor vision since I got her as a day old chick. She had three other friends and I was able to compare their behavior but it still took a while to figure out what was going on. She walked into the walls of the brooder box and tripped and fell a lot, whereas none of the others did. She did much better when it was brightly lit (mid-afternoon), but what really tipped me off was that she couldn't see small treats on the ground.

I would occasionally put little bits of scrambled egg on the ground for them and the other three chicks would easily find and eat the little pieces of the egg, whereas this one would peck helplessly at the ground (she knew SOMETHING was there) but couldn't get any of the egg unless she randomly landed right on top of it. She is about 30 weeks old now and is doing fine, but still has to be fed treats separately out of a bowl because she just can't compete with the others. So maybe try sprinkling some small bits of cooked egg on the ground to see if she can find them.

Also, I do agree it would be good to get her a friend or two or three if you can find some. My girl stays very close to her friends in the garden. They seem to kind of lead her around and they chatter a lot so having a companion could help her feel less stressed and alone, even when you are nearby.

Tried this with different types of food. Found out when the food flicked and jumped away she wouldn’t be able to find it unless i tapped the ground there. Also found out she cant see her food if its in the sawdust.

 

[Diveks]

She needs a chick buddy.

I’ve been looking for day old-week old chicks here but in my country its not common to have ‘fancy chickens’ could only find 3 month olds and adults. Plus i live in big city where people rarely have even meat/layer birds. Ill try to get her a friend, while im looking, i try to keep her company 24/7 bringing her everywhere to keep stress levels down. (Since its quarantine anyway i could give more attention to her)

 

[Diveks]

You can get any breed for her. she is sooooooo cute

All they have near me for day old chicks are the hybrids and meat birds. Il’l try to look if some of the sellers will let me buy just a chick or two cause the ones that i’ve asked usually sell them in the 100s. I usually find more sellers but ones that are known to sell single chicks are not selling because of the pandemic.

 

[Chickensandhorsesforlife]

100 is a lot! people here sell in 4s

 

[aart]

in my country

Where in this world are you located?
Climate, and time of year, is almost always a factor.
Please add your general geographical location to your profile.
It's easy to do, and then it's always there!