HELP!!! Had to help and now baby has a big sac of water/blood under her skin

SqueakChicken

In the Brooder
5 Years
Mar 5, 2014
69
6
48
Vancouver, BC, Canada
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We had a hen outside hatching chicks. Most hatched yesterday and when we went in to check today, this baby was partially out of her shell and had been abandoned.

We brought her inside and turned the bathroom into a giant hot/humid incubator and helped her out of the last part of her shell. It doesn't look like she completely absorbed her egg sac but I'm not sure if that's the biggest problem we have.

The skin on her back is so incredibly thin. There seems to be fluid underneath in a big sac. I'm not sure if it is preventing her from walking or if she is just exhausted and newly hatched. Anyone had this before?

Should we do anything? Can we do anything?
 
So we are pretty sure it is Mushy Chick Syndrome/Mushy Chick Disease/Omphalitis. I had noticed the sac when she was inside the egg (when we brought her in the house) so she must have either gotten infected as she was sitting alone in the nest half open, or while inside the egg.

I wanted to keep this thread going as I couldn't find anything similar and perhaps my case can help others.

We are about 45 hours later. We have kept Mezzo (Italian for half/middle) inside under a heat lamp (95-97 degrees). I think she just likes better to be held or just know I'm near. Music calms her too and we found that putting a soft stuffed animal in helped. It's quite adorable actually (photos below).

She walks around like a drunkard, never quite getting her balance. She often has one or both eyes closed. I know she's not blind because when open, she'll peck at very specific spots. She still has the fluid sack but not nearly as large. It's mostly on her right rear. I had to clean her bum once with a warm q-tip. We put iodine on her umbilical cord/belly button a few times a day. She is very noisy, but more of a sing-song chirpy than distressed.

We have been feeding her sugar water with some vitamins (human infant Tri-Vi-Sol) and chick crumbles in yogurt, she also got a little crushed up mealworm yesterday. She isn't keen on eating so we have to help.

Anyway, I'm hoping we can be a mushy chick success story. I haven't found any/many so far.

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What happened to her if you don't mind me asking? I have a chick just like this right now and I can't find much info on their survival.
 
@Kilkilkorken I am so sad to share that Mezzo did not make it. She died at 6 days. It looked like she was getting better and then she very quickly got worse and died peacefully. Best of luck, it's always hard when we have a sick one.
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