Chicks just hatched, one is deformed? Will they make it?

[rascal66]

My 3rd incubation of the year just happened. And so far, it's mostly successful, especially compared to my last hatch.

I still have a couple chicks hatching but two so far that have pipped have already died in the egg, unfortunately. Not too sure why, but one was quite sticky (again...).

One of the 14 chicks that have hatched so far appears deformed... I'm heartbroken.

So as it appears, it looks like this is an actual cross beaked chick. And their left eye seems.... Smaller? It usually keeps that eye closed but will open it on occasion.

My big question is, will they make it? Do chicks like this typically live a quality life? This chick seems to be thriving, chirping and wondering about. It did hatch today so they are. About wobbly, but otherwise seem okay.

Any advice or tips would be great. If it could live an okay life, then I'm happy to take extra care if I need to.

If they do live and its a rooster, it will be meat. Otherwise, a hen will be our new beloved layer.

This is a mixed chick, the Rooster is a Light Brahma and this one came from one of my easter egger eggs (blue egg). Ive been trying to get a blue chick since my EE hen is blue, and this chick looks promising, but of course just had to be born with issues that may affect their life.

 

[Thriftymama]

Good luck with your chicks! Just FYI, if you are looking to hatch a hen that lays blue eggs, the rooster must be from a blue egg breed. That is how it works with all the egg laying hybrids. The hens get their egg color from the rooster that sired them.

 

[coach723]

I would do some searching for articles on cross beaked birds and chicks. Some of them do well, some do not. The cross beak may get worse as the chick grows, time will tell. As long as it can feed and drink well enough it should do OK, assuming that it doesn't have any other problems going on. Sometimes one deformity indicates that there may be others that are not obvious. A cross beak may need extra care to keep it trimmed so the bird can eat and drink. It really depends on how much time and effort you are willing to spend on it. For me, if it's doing well now I personally would watch and wait to see how it does. If it's only got one good eye, it can adapt, again time will tell. You will just need to keep an eye on it to see if it has any troubles and try to help with those. There are lots of threads with people who have birds that have only one good eye or are completely blind. If the chick fails to thrive, then that's an indication that there is probably more wrong with it, unfortunately. If it does well and survives I would not hatch eggs bred from it. As for the eggs, birds have two egg color genes, one from each parent. To get truly blue eggs they need two blue genes (or a blue and a white will give a light blue). A blue egg layer crossed with a brown egg layer will give a shade of green (there are a LOT of shades of brown from very pale to very dark - so actual colors are variable). The blue gene is not sex-linked, it can come from either parent.
Here is an article and a thread that explain it all, there are many more:
https://104homestead.com/science-creating-egg-color/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/blue-egg-genetics.25421/

 

[rascal66]

Thank you guys for your responses. Another question I was gonna ask but you answered for me, if this one did make it to adult hood and laid eggs, would they be safe to hatch, and I guess not. Thank you for that.

Maybe I'll speak with DH and see what he wants to do. Right now I'm not sure if its going to make it, its laying on its side.

As far as the coloring, I was aiming for blue feathers, not so much blue eggs. Sorry if I didn't specify that... The chick seems really white-ish on the picture but is actually a grayish on its back and neck. I was hoping to finally get a blue EE from this batch. Maybe not.

Thank you for the links as well!

 

[rascal66]

Just a little update,

We decided to cull the chick today. It was having issues standing and... It was bound to have a rough start.

Thank you guys.

 

[LikeTurkeys]

Sorry for your loss. It's probably better that way so it didn't suffer.

 

[coach723]

So sorry for your loss. Some of them just aren't meant to be, but it's never easy.