One of my chicks is a slow learner--Is this normal?

[itslikeheardingchickens]

One of my six 4-week old EE chicks seems to be developmentally delayed. It takes her an extra week or so to catch on to some things. Is this normal or is there a bigger problem?

From the day we brought her home at about 4 days old she will stand with her head in the corner or stand in the middle of nowhere with her eyes closed. She is reluctant to jump up or down off of any perch.

Now on top of it all this week she has one eye that's swollen. I've separated her from the rest of my chicks and put antibiotics in everyone's water. Is the slow learner thing a symptom of some dreaded chicken disease or is she just special?

She is eating and drinking plenty and seems happy. I feel sorry for the poor dear.

 

[off-grid hen]

I'm interested in hearing answers to this too. Have you searched for other threads on this issue?

 

[Anianna]

I guess chickens can have eye conditions like any other animal. Sight impaired animals will often act in much the same way you are describing and several eye conditions can cause swelling of the eye. Is it the actual eye that is swollen or the flesh around the eye? Is the eye cloudy?

 

[itslikeheardingchickens]

The eye itself seems swollen; her eyelid could barely close over it. The eye doesn't really seem cloudy, but today is the first day she's had it open this week. She's been on antibiotics for 3 days now and the swelling seems to be going down.

Even before the eye became swollen, she did seem to have vision issues. When pecking at a piece of food she often misses, seems to have bad depth perception, and balance issues as well.

I guess she's going to be my special little girl. My husband thinks she'll probably turn out to be our best layer.