1st chick arrived BUT THINK THERE'S a PROBLEM (pics)

[karmlacres]

http://justin.tv/karmlacres

Not sure if you'll be able to see enough. My chick just arrived and she seems to be stuck to the shell. The hatch was not what I would call "clean". There is still some gunk and red (blood?) in the shell and on the chick. Humidity is about 66 right now (it went up with the pipping and hatching). Temp is 100.

Should I do anything or will nature take care of things.

While trying to get some pics, the chick broke free from the egg but was still dragging around a long string of junk. That has now broken off. She's in the bator bumping into eggs, rolling them around but her walking is improving.

Is this just a messy hatch or is there a problem that I need to tend to so that the chick has a fair chance at life?

The messy egg.... (turn your head sideways)

The trail of gunk. The shell is still on the chick -- it will fall off, right?

 

[Suechick]

aw, a new baby!!

It looks kind of normal to me. It isn't unusual for "stuff" from the egg to stick to the baby. Sometimes it falls off on its own and sometimes you have to pick it off later, moisten the area with a damp cloth if it is stuck tight. It can take a while for them to get walking figured out too. But sometimes, if they didn't hatch well, their legs are fitted into the hip joint well. Their legs are supposed to be forced into the right spot as they push themselves out of the shell. If that doesn't happen they might get splayed legs. There are ways of correcting that if she still can't walk after a day.

Congratulations though and good luck with the rest of your hatch

 

[Tuffoldhen]

Leave the chick in the bator til it fluffs out and and gunk dries out That's the end of the yolk sac that has to absorb from the chick.

 

[TriciaHowe]

Quote:

Kinda like the umbilical cord if you will. It will dry and fall off.... No worries.

 

[Gypsy07]

Looks fairly normal to me. It should dry up and drop off pretty quick. Congrats on the new baby!

 

[redhd077]

Quote:
I would be intrested in what to do for this splayed legs. Last year my dad hatched a bunch of chuckers and his 1st batch was good, but then his second batch there were 4 or 5 that couldn't really walk. They kinda acted like they were swimming. Anyway the got weak and he had to put them down. I wonder if this is what they had?

 

[karmlacres]

Thanks for letting me know that what I'm seeing is "normal". Number 2 has arrived, named "Daisy". The first is named "Chuckie" (trying to convince the 3 yr old we need a nicer name!)

Chick 2 is gunky, looks worse than the first. Oddly, chick 2 was the first to pip. I think Chuckie is happy to have a roommate. She kept cuddling up to the egg. They had been talking to each other while they were both still in their eggs. As soon as Daisy hatched, Chuckie came over to check her out. Chuckie is doing much better at walking but still has egg shell stuck on her (hoping for more hens than roos here!)

I have a third pipped egg. 5 more still need to start doing something. Chuckie is a splash orpington and Daisy is a French Black Copper Marans. Pretty sure she's a black and not a blue (had both in the bator and lost most of the blacks by the time lockdown came around). Daisy was the largest egg in the bunch.

As for the splayed legs, I found an interesting fix when I looked up "spraddling". Involved using a band-aid to make a splint of a sort to pull the chick's legs in. This helped give the chick the support necessary to gain the strength to stand on it's own.

 

[EricH]

reminds me of my first hatch. the gf calls me and says "your chick hatched... i think its deformed..." that was VERY disappointing. i was bummed, got home and it turned out it was just a piece of egg-goo dragging behind him, he was fine. you really cant tell much of anything until the second day. so much happens in that 24 hours after they make it out of the shell. they sleep a bunch, get all fuzzy and usually turn out ok.

 

[karmlacres]

I keep looking at them and keep wondering when they'll fluff up like the cuties I see in pictures and at the stores! Right now, I have one orpington, one black copper marans and one blue copper marans hatched. I have another black copper marans, blue copper marans and my only blue laced red wyandotte showing some action. The three that have hatched are super cute, but the first one wants to peck at the newly hatched ones as soon as they pop as if to show them who is boss. Go figure - my 3 yr old named it Chuckie after the horror doll from Child's Play. I'm trying to convince her to name it something nice! One is named Daisy (because Madagascar - the 5 yr old's first choice - was too hard to remember ... LOL) and Starlight (surprising name from the 10 yr old tom boy!)

My dog is going bonkers over the chirping! She should be happy when they get moved to the brooder and can see them.