6th Annual BYC New Year's Day 2015 Hatch-A-Long

[hennible]

X2 updates please

 

[blackgoat]

What am I going to do with this one? (S)he needs a pet home. Anyone?

Aw, I want the defective chick! Are you located anywhere between Tallahassee, FL and Blacksburg, VA?

 

[jbenson]

I'm not officially part of this hatch-a-long, but have been following along rooting everyone on.

Now I need some advice. I have a chick/egg that is on day 24 right now. It pipped three days ago at the wrong end. I left it alone for a long time but finally today I pulled it out to check on it. It is still alive but just barely. I started chipping the shell away and it is a major sticky chick. Super-glue sticky with sticky tan liquid dripping everywhere. I zipped the top of the shell off, and noticed a little un-absorbed yolk. As soon as I saw that I put it in a cup still sitting in the bottom half of the shell.

The poor thing is stuck to itself, the cup, the shell, the paper towel, and now it's eyes are glued shut (they were open a little bit ago). I guess my question is.....should I just leave it alone in an attempt to get it to absorb the yolk? Will the sticky crud cement on her and become impossible to get off? Should I try to wipe her eyes off at least? Thanks guys.

I also had one like this last year. wipe the eyes with a Q-tip dipped in warm water. If you can get the yolk to absorb most of the way or if it already almost is, try to get it to dry off. Take all additional humidity out of the 'bator or put the chick in the brooder in the cup (just be sure it's not too hot so it doesn't dehydrate). Then you can trim the dried bits close to the navel. Once the bits are dried and trimmed, you can give the chick a bath by holding it in one hand and using Dawn dish soap and warm water with the other hand to try to get the crusty sticky stuff off. Dry with a paper towel and if you have a forced air bator, leave it running to put the chick back in to dry off, or you can put it back in the cup to try off. You may need to wash it more than once. Gro gel, if you have some, would be very good for this chick. You'll need to make sure it doesn't get dehydrated and that it eats something soon. You could try a dropper with lukewarm sugar water if you don't have any Gro gel or if it won't eat on it's own.

I had a chick this crusty last year. Did mostly what I listed above after I had to assist in hatching ("Sticky" was one of the last to hatch and had a very hard time getting out of her shell so I had to help. She would not fluff up due to the crusty stuff from hatching so I did wash her twice and thus, she was named "Sticky"). This is Sticky shown below. She will be 1 year old in May of this year.

 

[Lamancha]

Thanks so much for the quick response. You guys are awesome. She's out of the shell and I used warm wet q-tips to clean her eyes off as best I could. They are squinty, but open. She's cheeping up a storm and trying to climb out of the cup so I guess that's a good sign. I have nutri-drench for my goats but I will have to do some quick research to see if I can give it to chickens. If not, I will try a bit of sugar water. I washed her a bit, but didn't want to get water in her open umbilical area. It's only a little open with no yolk left. I will keep you posted. THANKS

 

[hennible]

I'm sure sugar water will work but I thought you might like this recipe.
HOMEMADE ELECTROLYTE SOLUTION courtesy of The Chicken Chick
1/2 teaspoon salt substitute*
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon table salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 gallon water
*Salt substitute is readily available in most stores in the spice aisle near the salt, but if you do not have it, don't worry, the solution will still have most of the benefits intended to combat heat stress.

 

[jbenson]

Thanks so much for the quick response. You guys are awesome. She's out of the shell and I used warm wet q-tips to clean her eyes off as best I could. They are squinty, but open. She's cheeping up a storm and trying to climb out of the cup so I guess that's a good sign. I have nutri-drench for my goats but I will have to do some quick research to see if I can give it to chickens. If not, I will try a bit of sugar water. I washed her a bit, but didn't want to get water in her open umbilical area. It's only a little open with no yolk left. I will keep you posted. THANKS

that's great. Let the umbilicus dry up. Then you'll be able to trim it and then washing will be no big deal. I have heard lots of other people give nutri-drench to their chicks as needed - not sure the dosage.

 

[valleychicks]

Thanks so much for the quick response. You guys are awesome. She's out of the shell and I used warm wet q-tips to clean her eyes off as best I could. They are squinty, but open. She's cheeping up a storm and trying to climb out of the cup so I guess that's a good sign. I have nutri-drench for my goats but I will have to do some quick research to see if I can give it to chickens. If not, I will try a bit of sugar water. I washed her a bit, but didn't want to get water in her open umbilical area. It's only a little open with no yolk left. I will keep you posted. THANKS

I found information about nutri drench for chickens on My Pet Chicken http://www.mypetchicken.com/catalog/Chicken-Health/Poultry-Nutri-Drench-p979.aspx

 

[gevshiba]

Aw wish I could take him.

That's nice, but I'll do what needs to be done.

what's wrong with her?..

Wry neck, I guess.

 

[gevshiba]

I had two like this last year, one went home with some other people (and did not survive) and one stayed with me, it was my favorite too. I worked hard to try to help it for weeks with vitamins and so forth and sometimes it would seem to get better and then it would get worse. I came home from work one day to find it had had one of it's freak outs and fell over backwards in the corner of the brooder and got stuck between the side and the watered and couldn't get up and drowned. It never really made any progress. I determined it was probably a flock nutrition deficiency. I increased my flock protien intake and put vitamins in their water for a while and did not have any more like that.

Everything keeps coming back to nutrition. I don't like the feed they are getting. My feed store forced me to change brands. Now it's the only no GMO, soy free feed I can find in my area. I might see if another store would be willing to get in the previous feed that I liked better. Every day I chop fruits and veggies to supplement their fermented feed. They also get some whole grains. Think I'll do some calling around tomorrow. Thanks for the info.

 

[gevshiba]

Aw, I want the defective chick! Are you located anywhere between Tallahassee, FL and Blacksburg, VA?

No, sorry. I'm in TX.

In other news, the rest of the hatch are doing great and growing like weeds.