How old are chicks when they open there eyes?

Hello all,

This is my second attempt at hatching baby chicks - well, my hen does most of the work! lol We had a disaster before Christmas where there was only one hatched chick and then the other hens killed it a few days later. Since then our little broody hen has been very determined to sit again. This time we have her in a secure large cage inside the coupe so the others can't get to her, or her babies.

Well, yesterday was very exciting as we could hear peeping coming from inside her little nest box in the cage. Today we went and had a look and she got off her nest momentarily to get some food. We got to see what was making the noise - just one little baby - she still has another three eggs under her - but the baby doesn't seem to do much other than peep and it's eyes are closed. Is this normal? And if so, how long until they look like the little powder puff that we got to see before Christmas, before the others killed it?

This is all very stressful, I hope our little one is ok but it kind of looks funny - I just have no idea what I am doing - but I guess that is obvious!

Alison

Their eyes should be open as soon as they hatch... they get fluffy as soon as they dry out....

Oh dear! So maybe things are not going to be ok - again!

If it's not fluffy, then it just hatched. Hatching requires a lot of effort on the chicks part. They rest a lot while they dry off. In a few hours, it should be dry and more active.

I had a chick I thought was blind because I could not see the eye. Someone on here told me to use a soft warm cloth on the lid. Then gently try to pry the lid open. I did and it turns out she was just fine. I hope this helps!

we could hear it yesterday - is it possible for it to still be wet and tired 24 hours later? Is there such thing as a premmie chick? Or am I just clutching at straws?

if they have just hatched they can still be tuckered out from all of it and tend to rest but will still peep with their eyes closed. if you give it a day or two till it is fully moving around you should notice it keeping it's eyes opened a lot more.

i've just gone through loosing 2 chicks to other hens grabbing them as they were hatching in the last 2 days and i was worried about the existing first 2 chicks having issues with their eye also. they have been fine and now don't have to deal with hens trying to snatch them anymore. moma is doing better without her 'ladies in waiting' to grab her new chicks.

it shouldn't take too long for them to fluff out after they hatch with a moma hen in with them, probably about an 1/2 hour to hour i've noticed on mine these last few days.

Thank you everyone - this forum is so friendly and helpful, I appreciate the time people take to answer my questions. I guess we give her a little more time and if the baby gets to be fluffy and still not opened the eyes, we will try the soft damp cloth.

Quote:
You may have heard it before it hatched. When they break through the air sac, you can hear them peeping inside the egg. It's really wild.

Quote:
You may have heard it before it hatched. When they break through the air sac, you can hear them peeping inside the egg. It's really wild.

Yep! It's not hatched till you see it out of the egg. Some over zealous chicks can be heard peeping before they even make an external pip. If this over zealous pre pipping chick for some reason was slow to hatch, you could be hearing peeping for 2-3 days before it hatches! Most of the time though, you can hear peeps about a day before it actually hatches. Time will tell.