Broody has broken egg open and chick inside is breathing

[Ksw15]

She is up walking around more now, still looking very drunk though. She try to preen herself and it throws her off balance. She’s still improving for now so I’m remaining positive.

You should expect a newly hatched chick to be up any running around in a day or so.
They rest/sleep a lot the first day.

 

[Ksw15]

You should not need to syringe feed her. The yolk is being absorbed for about 24 hours after hatching so that is her food. Gently dip her beak in the water to make sure she knows how to drink. Give her chick starter but a SMALL AMOUNT of scratch, which is bright in colour and will get her interested, can be sprinkled on top of the food. Make sure you see her eat and drink because they usually follow the lead of the hen and the other chicks. It will be hard with only 1 chick. I have been successful in putting a chick with a hen with other chicks but hens that will do that are rare. I know it's her chick but she may not see it that way. I would see if the hen will tolerate the new chick but you have to wait until it's strong enough to keep up to the older chick, maybe tomorrow, but you have to watch carefully for quite a while and keep them in a small confined area so the hen is pretty much forced to stay close.
I see your worried about the leg. Thats a wait and see kind of scenario. Make sure the bottom of the chicks enclosure is not slippery so it has no chance of slipping around when it tries to walk. Wood chips are good but if they slide on a smooth surface thats not good.

So the good news is her leg is looking fine now and she’s up and walking/staggering around. as far as giving her back to mama hen.. it was a crazy day yesterday. That broody had only successfully hatched one chick and I felt bad for her and the lone chick so I bought some chicks to slip under her the night before. I’ve done this successfully a few times. All went fine overnight but when the sun came up and she got up to eat it was like she was seeing them for the first time all over again and she started attacking them all. The story was a little more drawn out but in short I took them away because she would have hurt them and attempted to give to another broody hen I have who has four week old chicks but she wasn’t having them either.
So I had tried to take the remaining eggs away (one was Hope’s egg) but that made the mama even more crazy so I put them back. I didn’t have a brooder setup so we had made a makeshift one and my husband was on his way home from the feed store with a proper heat lamp at the time I discovered Hopes broken egg. She doesn’t know how lucky she is!
So right now I have two mama hens, one with 4 chicks and the other with the single chick. But neither want these chicks I bought so they are now living inside (there’s 5) and Hope is in her separate box next to them. If she gets stronger and survives these next few days I will definitely put her in with them and she will have her own flock of chicks to grow up with.

 

[Ksw15]

I wish I could give more/better advice! Baby chicks are wet for a while after birth. It takes some time (I don't know how long) to fluff out. From my very limited experience, baby chicks are super sleepy and seem to fall asleep in the middle of doing things.
*IF* something bad does happen, do NOT beat yourself up. Just know that you are doing the best you could with what you have. But you have wonderful people here to help

Thank you for saying this. It’s so hard I know I’m her only hope so I feel very responsible for her. But I know ultimately nature will decide what happens.

 

[Ksw15]

I've read that black chicks have a sticky coating unlike other color chicks.Maybe this is why its still wet? It will take a little longer is all.

I’m thinking after picking her up and inspecting a little closer that some of it needs a clean it’s a bit crusty feeling on her head. And her back is still totally stuck down but I was following other forum advice last night and dabbing coconut oil on the remaining membrane to stop it drying out so she may have this on her fluff and that’s keeping it slick and wet looking. I should maybe attempt a sponge bath but I don’t want to mess with her too much until she’s looking more alert?

 

[Ksw15]

I

I would wet the crumble to a mash just to make it easier to eat. I find that most chicks get more excited about mash then dry crumble as well. Try to get some Nutri-Drench, probiotic powder, and electrolytes. The probiotics are immune boosting. Since most of the immune system is the gut, adding probiotics support the good bacteria, boosting the immune system. You can do 50/50 Nutri-Drench in he drinking water, make sure to offer plain water on the side.
The only problem I see here is that Hope is a lone chick. Chicks do SO much better with another chick. They show them how to do things, and it makes them much easier to integrate. Stuffed animals work well, but having a lone chick is never ideal. Not sure if you still have chicks in feed stores in your area, but if you do, maybe explain to them that you have a lone chick, and would like to purchase one (or more if you can fit it) for Hope.
You could also try to give her back to the broody, but this doesn't always work.

I just wrote another reply similar to this but I happen to have 5 chicks who are older than Hope but still under a week who my broody didn’t want so when she’s up for it I can put her in the brooder with them. for now she’s in a timber box next to them so she can hear them but not see them at this stage. I’m ind of figuring out the brooder situation as I go, all of this drama happened yesterday morning, I thought the 5 rejected chicks were a problem until I found Hope my broken egg chick maybe only 2 hours later.. chickens are so much drama!
So grateful for all this advice.

 

[Ksw15]

Hoping for the best! I had a wee silkie x chick that was very tiny and very wobbly on his legs. But he got stronger within a week and now he is a 6 week old terror! And he is as big as his clutch mates.

You can try reintigrating the chick with mama when she gets stronger, do it at night, tuck the wee one in with mama and see if it settles under her. If the chick accepts mama you should be ok.

I think I’d feel better at this stage if she was fluffy and looked more like you would expect a chick to look. Her appearance makes me worried but she may actually just need a sponge bath and another day to gain her strength. It’s so hard to tell because I’m not experienced with incubation and watching them hatch.

 

[Ksw15]

Great suggestions from everyone.
Personally if I have a chick that's weak, I crush up 1/4 tablet B-Complex and mix it with a very small amount of water. Then I give drops of the vitamin water through out the day, alternating with either plain water or sugar water. I aim for a couple of drops of vitamin, then a couple of drops of plain water every hour or so.

Chicks down can look sparse if she's still wet or if the down is stiff and stuck. If she's dry, you can gently use a soft brush to fluff up the down.

I agree with giving wet mash. It's just a little chick starter soaked in water for a little while to make an "mash".
You want her hydrated first, then eating.

When you have time, more photos! Hopefully this is a good sign that she's going to make it.

Okay thank you so much for your advice. I have some chick start soaking and I bought the only multivitamin/probiotic product our feed store had for chickens
and an eye dropper so I will attempt to give her some tonight. She’s still not 24 hours after her hatch away from her shell so I got prepared today but have kind f just left her alone and checked on her every 5 minutes haha
her down is crusty and also may have coconut oil o her back from where I tried to keep the membrane moist so this might be the problem with her fluff. Will attempt sponge bath tomorrow if she seems up to it!

 

[Ksw15]

Super watered down mash is what I would try before giving dry feed. When I had a chick like that, I fed her by prying her beak open and feeding her piece by piece because she wouldn’t eat otherwise. I also had to help her drink. She also had a leg and swallowing/throwing up issue, but it resolved itself after about a week of special care. She was miserable by herself, so we put a little friend in with her. If she gets better soon, I would recommend putting a friend in with her, but only if she is better.

What was her swallowing issue? I’ve put Hope’s beak in the water twice and she gulped some and did the thing where they tip their head back but then she kept doing that like she was either learning how to swallow, or didn’t know how to swallow, or was just trying to get more of whatever just happened. It made me nervous though. Could she not know how to swallow if she’s under developed or is this just what chicks do the first times they attempt to drink? Can any experienced Hatcher’s let me know thoughts on this please!

 

[Ksw15]

So this is my most recent picture of her. She was one of three remaining eggs so when I found her and put her under the heat lamp I just pulled the others out and put them there too because I couldn’t bring myself to throw them away if there was other fully formed babies maybe inside. I probably should at this stage, I have just been so focused on Hope and the others I’ve ignored them. Last thing I’d need is more special needs chicks half hatching out of them in poor conditions though. But that explains the egg in this photo.
This is her good side, the other side of her head is still not fluffy and needs a wash I think.

 

[Ponypoor]

I

I just wrote another reply similar to this but I happen to have 5 chicks who are older than Hope but still under a week who my broody didn’t want so when she’s up for it I can put her in the brooder with them. for now she’s in a timber box next to them so she can hear them but not see them at this stage. I’m ind of figuring out the brooder situation as I go, all of this drama happened yesterday morning, I thought the 5 rejected chicks were a problem until I found Hope my broken egg chick maybe only 2 hours later.. chickens are so much drama!
So grateful for all this advice.

Yes! Drama! I agree completely. That is how I describe my gang. Chicken craziness.

You can gently wash baby using a Q-tip wet with water, and gently rub dry. The quicker the down fluffs up the better, that is her insulation.

Sounds like you're doing a wonderful job, still hoping for the best. Just make sure drinking and eating mash. My wee tiny silkie was weak but he is thriving now.