Not too bad updates on pg. 2

[skeeter9]

Beautiful babies!!!

 

[Kanchii]

Quote:
I think she's doing the same for us as well, which is nice of her. I'm not positive though, Alyssa (silkieluvr) was the person in charge of this batch of silkies, she ordered them, ect. But she is on vacation, I'm house sitting for her, haha. They are very cute indeed, though!

There is one that I'm worried about though (not from you, Dipsy!) who has a bit of a scissor beak, and its right eye keeps getting stuck closed. I think it'll be fine though.

 

[d_rooster]

Kanchii, keep an eye on the one with the scissor beak to be sure it is able to eat and drink properly. Make sure that this little challenged chick's food is in a deep enough container so that it can scoop some up.

Last spring when I bought chicks at the local feed store, the lady there said she would just give me a chick for free when I was buying the other chicks. I wasn't paying much attention and thought she was just being nice. When I got the chicks home, I realized that the poor little thing had some problems. The little chick turned out to be blind in one eye and have a terribly crossed beak. This little chick had a great bit of difficulty pecking food unless it was presented in a deep enough container so that she could scoop it up. We named this chick, Helen, (after the infamous Helen Keller) and Helen is now a reasonably sized pullet that gets along very well despite her handicaps. However, Helen did grow more slowly than other chicks her own age and breed. I still have to be sure to present food in containers with some depth, especially the treats, so that she stands a chance of getting some, too. With the crossed beak and the bad eye Helen has always had a hard time pecking things off the ground or flat surfaces like pans or paper plates. I'm sure that her aim is off because of the blindness in the one eye. The crossed beak interferes with her grip on bits of food.

I know that you're just baby-sitting these chicks for a short while, but please make sure that your little challenged chick is able to adequately pick up the food from the food containers you are using.

 

[Kanchii]

Quote:
Thanks for your concern, d_roo! Yes their food is in a bowl deep enough for her to scoop, though her beak isn't so crossed that she'd need to scoop it, I think. She's still the same size as the others, so I'm keeping an eye on her. Her eye is what worries me though, I can't get it open, and I don't want to use force in fear of ripping her eyelid (eep, scary though!) I've been bathing it with a warm wet q-tip and trying to ease it open, with no luck. I have my fingers crossed for the little guy.

 

[ksacres]

silkieluvr, I sent you a pm

 

[d_rooster]

Kanchii, it sounds like you are doing everything possible to give that little chick a chance at having two good eyes. I don't know much about the possibilities of saving an eye if, perhaps, it hasn't opened since hatch. Does anyone with more experience know anything additional that Kanchii might do to help save this little chick's eye?