PLEASE HELP! - baby chick has poked eye!

[avallen]

hi everyone.
this morning, i woke up and everyone noticed that one of the three chicks that our mama hen has was missing and not with mom. we were all worried, so we started looking for the little guy.

we found him in the chicken coop, all alone. he was just standing there, very still. then we noticed one of his eyes was closed. the other eye was fine, and looking around.

well i picked him up, and what worried me most is that he didn’t cheep as much as usual. all the chicks are always very energetic and cheep and flap around a lot when you pick them up. but this little guy only gave a few cheeps when i picked him up. he was also shivering. i’m assuming that his eye got poked in someway.

another thing is that his head is turning a tiny bit from left to right. i know that in some animals, (such as horses) the head turning right or left indicates vision impairment. i’m wondering if that’s also true for chickens.

right now i have him in my hands to keep him warm and he’s napping.

i’d like to know what i can do to help his eye! i’d appreciate any advice or help! i dont want to loose this little guy as i’ve already had several heartbreaking casualties lately.

update: his balance is also very bad, and he can’t really stand up on his own very well.

 

[IvysAnimals]

Here are some articles to read through to find which one that accommodates you! You'll have to clean the eye and bandage it up to keep it from becoming worse. Here's some way(s) you can fix it-

*https://backyardpoultry.iamcountryside.com/feed-health/treating-livestock-and-chicken-eye-problems/


*https://www.thefeatherbrain.com/blog/chicken-eye-wound

*https://animals.mom.com/how-to-treat-chickens-with-an-eye-infection-4636263.html

 

[avallen]

thank you very much!!

 

[avallen]

would you recommend i keep him in a brooder separate from everything else?

 

[IvysAnimals]

would you recommend i keep him in a brooder separate from everything else?

To prevent any further injuries or any infections, yeah!

 

[Aunt Angus]

would you recommend i keep him in a brooder separate from everything else?

Poor baby! The same thing happened to my Polish. She ended up with a pretty severe abscess and eventually lost use of that eye. I would separate him while he heals. He might get pecked again otherwise. You might put a divider in the brooder so that he isn't "alone."

 

[avallen]

ok, will do! thanks everyone!

 

[avallen]

ok, so i just put him down, and his balance is HORRIBLE (even worse that before) he’s staggering around like a drunk person before he finally falls down. is this also a head injury or…? his head keeps wobbling around all the time.

 

[IvysAnimals]

ok, so i just put him down, and his balance is HORRIBLE (even worse that before) he’s staggering around like a drunk person before he finally falls down. is this also a head injury or…? his head keeps wobbling around all the time.

He might need some time to adjust or he might have another injury

 

[avallen]

do you guys think this might be the mama hen that injured him? she has only 3 babies but she was supposed to have 10. she killed 3 right after they hatched and the other 4 eggs she abandoned before they hatched. should i take the other 2 babies away from her before she hurts them too??