Crunchy Chick 🐣

[StarryNights]

Hi! I had 6 chicks hatch early yesterday, and 1 more late last night. The fluffy ones were picking on the straggler that was dragging its shell around and I was worried it would get hurt. I pulled the 6 larger chicks and popped them in the brooder, and added a bit more water to the bottom of the incubator to keep the humidity level even. The newest had disconnected from its shell by the time I went to bed, but it was still very wet and looked exhausted - so I left it in the bator. This morning, the chick is dry, but crunchy. I thought perhaps I could add it to the brooder and it could properly dry, but the moment they entered the brooder all the others started pecking and pulling at it. I put it back in the incubator so I could come here and ask for help.
Should I leave the chick with the others? Are they actually helping it? Or should I try to wash the dried goo from this one first? Or do I leave everything alone and it'll finish fluffing if left in the bator?
Adding a photo - it looks wet, but it is very dry.

 

[FoodFreedomNow]

Your little chick looks like it was "sticky", and that the goo dried on it. When I've had chicks with this issue, their down doesn't fluff up normally, so I've had to try to very gently wash the crusty stuff off in warm water and then blow-dry the chick. Once the goo is off, it should fluff up.

Did the chick hatch from the same kind of eggs that your others did?

 

[StarryNights]

Your little chick looks like it was "sticky", and that the goo dried on it. When I've had chicks with this issue, their down doesn't fluff up normally, so I've had to try to very gently wash the crusty stuff off in warm water and then blow-dry the chick. Once the goo is off, it should fluff up.

Did the chick hatch from the same kind of eggs that your others did?

Awesome, thank you!
It did come from the same, sort of. It's a barnyard mix and this egg was olive - but I have already had 1 blue hatch and the rest were brown eggs. All from the same RIR rooster - but I have australorps, barred rock, RIR and egger hens.

 

[FoodFreedomNow]

YVW! I asked about the eggs because darker-shelled eggs, like olive/blue or very dark brown, generally seem to lose moisture less easily than eggs with shells of other colors, which may account for why the chick was sticky - from residual moisture left in the egg. If only one chick was sticky, it might just be an anomaly, but if you've seen more, then adjusting the humidity (lower during incubation) may help prevent it in the future.

In any case, congratulations on your hatch!