Silkie chick with eye problem, worried about possible loss of eye.

[SleepyHollowFnF]

We hatched a silkie a few days ago. (S)he had trouble hatching and after a day of trying to get out we saw that the membrane had dried up and it seemed unable to get out. Upon assistance, we saw that the membrane had stuck over the right side of its face, covering its eye. Once the chick emerged, there was what I can only describe as a "strap" of membrane over the eye gluing it shut. I carefully removed what I thought was all of it and its eye was open, but just barely.

The rest of the day was it constantly getting wood chips stuck to it and today we saw that some of the feathers from below its eye were apparently still sticky and had stuck to the top of its head, shutting the eye again. We carefully removed the feathers over the eye and gently opened the eye, fluid poured out and it was only about 20% open.

I checked the eye and there appeared to be an inner eye lid blinking as well as what looked like normal dilation of the eye when exposed to light. A few hours later its eye was glued shut again, we out of desperation, unsure if it would be hazardous or possibly scab over permanently, opened the eye again and again, an eruption of fluid and a seemingly functional eye below.

Should we leave it alone or continue to open it?

Is there a risk of it healing over and sealing the eye permanently if we leave it alone?

Will this pose a big risk of infection regardless of which approach we choose to take?

The chick is otherwise very excitable and social, eating and drinking regularly.

I'd really appreciate any and all advice on this situation.

Thanks!

-Xero

 

[Pyxis]

You do want to keep opening it to allow the fluid to drain out. In addition, you might want to pick up some terramycin to apply to the eye. It'll fight off any infections that might be developing due to the constant closing and might help keep the eye from becoming stuck shut again.

 

[SleepyHollowFnF]

The eye was reopened this morning and it seems to have stayed a bit more open, but is still overflowing with sticky fluid. Would it be the worst idea to lose warm water to try to loosen up the remaining crust from the egg membrane?

 

[Pyxis]

The eye was reopened this morning and it seems to have stayed a bit more open, but is still overflowing with sticky fluid. Would it be the worst idea to lose warm water to try to loosen up the remaining crust from the egg membrane? 

You could gently try to do that, and if you had some saline eye solution it might help to flush the eye, too.

 

[SleepyHollowFnF]

The eye is still super crusty but luckily for the most part is open now. I'm worried now it wont be able to blink much and wood chips still get stuck to it, covering it.

Otherwise the chick is super peppy and active, so I don't suspect any genetic issues, just bad luck. Thoughts?