*GRAPHIC PIC* chick has bloody mass hanging from navel, help?

[BarnyardChaos]

So this is a new problem I haven't encountered before, can anyone advise? We are mid-hatch of a batch of 34 eggs. One chick hatched this morning with what looks like a bloody mass (intestines? unabsorbed yolk?) hanging from its navel, and the navel isn't closed. It bled for awhile after hatching, but now the bleeding has stopped. It still has a jelly-like mass at the navel area that's bloody looking. I'm keeping this chick in the incubator with the other eggs that haven't hatched yet, as I definitely don't want it exposed to the other chicks hatched yesterday! What IS this? What are the chances it will resolve in a few hours? Should I just cull the chick?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

How is the chick?

It looks like unabsorbed yolk sac. Often they will absorb that while moving about in the incubator. The main problem I see is sometimes that sac will get soiled from debris on the bator floor.
IF I have one like that I usually place the chick in a paper towel lined coffee/tea cup and put cup chick and all back in the bator.
It's usually gonna scream it's head off, so just be prepared for that.

 

[raingarden]

Don't mess with it. It will dry up and fall off on it's own.

 

[BarnyardChaos]

Happy to report the chick is fine, for now. Thank you for the response @Wyorp Rock ! By this evening, the mass had mostly shrunk to a small dried-up blob connected by a still wet string of tissue to its abdomen. I set to cleaning it up to remove dried blood and bits of shell, to see if it could be removed safely. I set the chick into a cup with a little warm water to soak, and then used a cotton swab and alcohol to clean around the string part. No blood vessels. So I snipped the blob off. All is well. After drying off and a little warm rest in the bator, he's now hopping around in the brooder with the rest of them.

One more egg hatched after that one, and it too has unabsorbed yolk, but not nearly as bad. It's still in the incubator on clean paper towels and doing fine. I had to assist this baby. He half-zipped this morning, but made no progress all day. He is a BIG HEAVY chick! Not really shrink-wrapped I don't think, just too big to turn himself around. It was a normal sized egg.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Glad to hear things are going well!

 

[BarnyardChaos]

The story continues... the last-hatched chick still has not absorbed all of the yolk I think, as there is still a bump like a pencil eraser. It's bright pink and looks okay. However, I don't think it's safe to put him in the brooder yet, with 22 other chicks mostly hatched a day or two ago who are starting to eat and squabble. That bump just looks like a pecking magnet.

I'd keep him in the incubator until it shrinks, but I have ten eggs still in the incubator for which I have little hope they will hatch. I'm very anxious there will be an egg explosion with the little guy still in there. I don't want to give up on these last 10 eggs yet, though - it's only day 22. What to do, what to do???

What I did - we'll see how this works out: I put him in an empty Kleenex cube. I put the cube inside the brooder. I tied a piece of muslin over the top to keep the other chicks from hopping in there with him and causing havoc to his bump. He's in his own little hospital room! LOL

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Let us know how it goes with the cube.

At day 22, it's probably o.k. to have left him in with the eggs. Sometimes the peeping and bowling eggs around can seem to encourage those late hatchers if there's any left.

Either way, sounds like you've got this!

 

[TillyD]

In my recent hatch (we were discussing in my thread) I had one not close up the naval.... She was weak from hatch. I left her in the brooder a little longer than I usually, about 36 hours.... I tried nutridrench, a little wet cat food, a little scrambled egg... Nothing helped... She passed this morning.
I wish I'd tried the scrambled egg sooner. I wonder if it would have helped... She may have been too weak by the time I got it to her...
So, my advice is to get ahead if you can. Give her some extra love and care. Watch for bullying. The others were beating up my little one...

 

[Clodill4rel]

Can u take eggs at day 13 from a broody mama in Las Vegas (dry air) n put in the incubator with humidity ? I didn’t know what to do since our broody jumped off the eggs 5 days after I gave her 4 chicks. So I brought them inside n started incubating…. Should I not add any water? I did this test n it’s at 50% now?!?!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Can u take eggs at day 13 from a broody mama in Las Vegas (dry air) n put in the incubator with humidity ? I didn’t know what to do since our broody jumped off the eggs 5 days after I gave her 4 chicks. So I brought them inside n started incubating…. Should I not add any water? I did this test n it’s at 50% now?!?!

If your incubator has been calibrated and the humidity is at 50% without water, I would not add any.