Chicks hatched w/ yolk pouch hanging out

I have hatched many chicks in my time, but this is SO weird. Today my broody hen abandoned her nest and I decided to take the eggs myself because they were just starting to pip.

Short story:
All three hatched with yolks hanging on

Long story:
The first egg the mom had stepped on or kicked. It had pipped on one side and the other side had a huge dent with blood coming out. I decided to assist her in hatching because this summer 60% of my chicks have died fully developed on the day they should have hatched. The white skin under the shell was SO thick! It took a long time to break. Then she had this really thick, really strong gelatinas substance all around her, which was also hard to break. She was born with a see-through stomach full of yolk, and a tiny bit still going in. She's still alive now (7 hours later), just lying in the incubator, having small muscle spasms.

The second egg hadn't pipped to the air pocket, which I could see through candling. Not wanting to repeat history, I decided to hatch it. When I poked the air pocket with a needle this disgusting smelling liquid gurgled out. When I broke the shell there was this DISGUSTING foul smelling black jelly liquid. Just in case, I started pouring it out to see if the chick (which had been alive a few days ago) was somehow still alive. It was SO gross! I didn't finish pouring it out, just through it away, but it was goopy and green with black spots and the worst smelling stuff EVER.

The third egg also hadn't pipped, so I did the same thing as above. I found it alive but not very spritely. I would break a few shells away every half hour or so, but after a few hours I broke an outer vein and it bled and died. :'(,' When I looked at the full chick it had a HUGE sack.

The fourth egg was also pipped. It just now hatched with a yolk bag the size of a marble! Otherwise completely normal and active.


Does anyone have experience or knowledge about this? I would really appreciate your advice.

HELP! I think it's pulling its intestines out!!

Now I just want to know a way to humanely put it out of its misery. D,:

farmergirl26 said:

I have hatched many chicks in my time, but this is SO weird. Today my broody hen abandoned her nest and I decided to take the eggs myself because they were just starting to pip.

Short story:
All three hatched with yolks hanging on

Long story:
The first egg the mom had stepped on or kicked. It had pipped on one side and the other side had a huge dent with blood coming out. I decided to assist her in hatching because this summer 60% of my chicks have died fully developed on the day they should have hatched. The white skin under the shell was SO thick! It took a long time to break. Then she had this really thick, really strong gelatinas substance all around her, which was also hard to break. She was born with a see-through stomach full of yolk, and a tiny bit still going in. She's still alive now (7 hours later), just lying in the incubator, having small muscle spasms.

The second egg hadn't pipped to the air pocket, which I could see through candling. Not wanting to repeat history, I decided to hatch it. When I poked the air pocket with a needle this disgusting smelling liquid gurgled out. When I broke the shell there was this DISGUSTING foul smelling black jelly liquid. Just in case, I started pouring it out to see if the chick (which had been alive a few days ago) was somehow still alive. It was SO gross! I didn't finish pouring it out, just through it away, but it was goopy and green with black spots and the worst smelling stuff EVER.

The third egg also hadn't pipped, so I did the same thing as above. I found it alive but not very spritely. I would break a few shells away every half hour or so, but after a few hours I broke an outer vein and it bled and died. :'(,' When I looked at the full chick it had a HUGE sack.

The fourth egg was also pipped. It just now hatched with a yolk bag the size of a marble! Otherwise completely normal and active.


Does anyone have experience or knowledge about this? I would really appreciate your advice.

Click to expand...

Well, if you had an incubator I would have put the pipped eggs in there and increase humidity. When assisting a hatch, first only do it if the chick has started to zip and then just stops making progress. I usually wait about eight hours. If no progress I know the chick is stuck. Pipped eggs, but no progress after a day usually indicates a weak chick or in your case, a chick that still has an exposed yolk sac. Best to leave them alone.
That one egg may have been a spoiled egg or sometimes the chick poops in the shell if it is in there too long. Were all these eggs started at the same time? Or did you place them under the hen at different times?
When you start taking small pieces of shell away, it's best to peel back the white membrane as you go. If it bleeds, stop! Put the egg back because this is also a sign the sac is not absorbed yet.
Now, I did have one I assisted earlier this year and it was not done. There was a small amount of yolk sac still outside the chick, about the size of one of my nail beds. I wasn't sure what to do, but I kept the chick in the incubator as long as I could so other chicks wouldn't peck at it. I was hoping it would finish absorbing, but that didn't happen. What did happen is the outside hardened or toughened up a bit and he walked around with it for about 10 to 14 days and it eventually just fell off by itself. What you can do is if it appears to have a narrow neck and it is small enough, you can tie it off with some sanitary string. It will eventually dry up and fall off. Mine didn't appear that way, so I let it and it resolved itself. I guess the important thing is, keep the chick in a clean enviroment and a place where he can't pierce it. These chicks will likely need some extra nutrition. If you have some Nutri Drench for poultry, I would try to get the chicks to take a drop or two for the next two days with a syringe, but wait at least 24 hours first. If not nutri drench some chicksaver in their water. The one that lost blood is going to need some extra water, vitamins, etc. Let them rest a little while first and dry off. If you don't have an incubator at least get them under a bulb. A forty or sixty watt suspended above the box they are in would work but check the temp at floor level right under the bulb. Ideally, it should be about 95 degrees for the 1st week.

Oh, I now see you do have an incubator. Keep them in there about 16 more hours, then try to get them to drink. I also see the one that bled died. Still, some chick saver in their water will be beneficial. I think the yolks will eventually fall off, but keep them in a clean enviroment at least until they do.

farmergirl26 said:

HELP! I think it's pulling its intestines out!!

Click to expand...

If it has some yucky looking cord it is dragging around, take some clean sharp scissors and snip it off. It's like an umbilical cord. If you don't have any blood stop powder handy, I think I have read cornstarch is handy for stopping bleeding? I don't think the cord will bleed, at least not much. If you have a helper you can have them hold the chick while you tie it off with a thread. Maybe a dab of vaseline on the sac will keep it from sticking to things til it toughens up some. Or it might be best to let it dry out. Keep the incubator dark and the chicks will not move around as much.

Thanks for all the help! Unfortunately, they all died very sad deaths. I think the reason is that the mamma's so big, and her nesting box is so small, that she didn't have room to move around, so they never turned. When I candled them I could see that they were sticking to the sides.

I'm sorry to hear the chicks didn't make it. Sounds like the first egg either had an infection or genetically didn't develop properly. The second egg sounds like the chick started to decay in shell. The fourth one with the big yolk attached could be that it was developing it's environment was too cool (like being kept at the outside of the group through incubation) or that it had an infection or again, genetics could play a part. If this particular hen repeats this type of thing with her next batch of eggs I'd tend to believe genetics aren't the best for reproduction (maybe the rooster crossed with this particular hen just are not a good match).

Thanks for the help.

The good thing about this hen is that she's the only austrolorp in my flock, so I know just what's going on with her. 3 years ago she sat on 8 eggs and hatched one. I couldn't diagnose the losses cause I was gone. This year when I hatched chicks both times 50% were hers, even though she is 1/10 of the hens in that flock! So she obviously lays a good big egg every day and has good genetics. The ones she hatched this time were actually not hers.

Do you think my diagnosis was plausible?

Thanks!