Chick hatched, yolk sac not absorbed??

[BlueShadow]

I have a friend who is hatching some eggs from my hens. She just texted me this picture, two of the chicks hatched like this.



Is this an unabsorbed yolk sac? Is there anything we can do to help these chicks survive? I have heard of "chick in a cup," is that the appropriate thing to do? Any tricks to getting the chicks to survive? This yolk sac is WAY bigger than I expected an unabsorbed yolk sac to look like!

Second part of the question, what is the likely cause? Humidity? Temperature? How can we fix our incubating procedures so this doesn't happen again? Or was it genetics?

 

[omlet the chicken]

honestly the only other time I've heard of that happening is with an assisted hatching

 

[Bluechick2u]

Yes, try putting it in a shallow cup and hope it will finish absorbing it, I have never had one hatch like that and still survive, but I usually dont see them in time to help, I try to stay away during hatching so I'm not tempted to assist

 

[omlet the chicken]

That chick does not look like a strong, healthy, independently hatched chick.

Chicks are supposed to hatch on their own so they have enough time to absorb the yolk, whilst gaining stamina (frequent nap breaks) and strength to survive as a tiny chick and keep up with her mum and sisters.

I would not keep your hopes up, but she NEEDS humidity, warmth, and some sort of small, egg-like container to mimic her shell.

In whatever case, the hatching was premature and she needs that crucial maturity to survive.

 

[omlet the chicken]

If there was two, I would wager your friend helped them out the shell.
But It could be a bad hatch. There's only so much you can do.

best of Luck

 

[Bluechick2u]

And check the incubator temp to be sure its not too high, causing premature hatching (happened to me once).

 

[BlueShadow]

I will find out for sure, but I doubt this was an assisted hatching. She usually has a very strict rule about once hatching starts, you do NOT open the incubator.

I also am not completely sure which day they were supposed to hatch, although I know it was this week. Would hatching a day early cause this?

 

[BlueShadow]

@WVduckchick I know you have dealt with this kind of thing before, do you have any other input to offer?

 

[NanaKat]

Too high a humidity can cause sticky chicks. Next hatch try to keep humidity to about 60%.

Try the cup with a thin film of Vaseline or olive oil on the surface to keep the yolk from drying to the surface. If it breaks, then % of survival goes way down. If you have Nutridrench, a drop on the side of the beak will give additional nourishment.

 

[BantyChooks]

Is it just me, or is the yolk sack infected? Looks green/brown in the image.