Chick hatched and dried but has a hard crust on the feathers

[Chrissy.lach]

Hey everyone, this is my first time hatching chicks and my first one started hatching last night and was fully out by early this morning. I was having a problem with the chick drying in the incubator by the humidity was not too high. The chick is now out of the incubator and in the brooder. He has dark spots all over him and his feathers are coated with a hard substance. He also is not making a lot of noise. I am a little worried and not sure if anyone can give me some advice on what to do with him. Here are some pictures to try and see what his coating looks like.

 

[drumstick diva]

Sounds like your chick is shrink-wrapped. I can't tell by the photo because all I see if RED. You may need to gently bathe the chick(keep head above water) with a little Dawn dish soap & warm water. Work if through all the plastered down areas, then rinse well. Dry chick thoroughly before putting back in brooder. If all the feathers don't fluff up, you may need to repeat.

 

[Pork Pie]

Hi and welcome to BYC. You have some great advice from D/Diva. You mention the incubator humidity not being too high - it should be between 65-75% for the last thee days of incubation.

 

[Chrissy.lach]

Sounds like your chick is shrink-wrapped. I can't tell by the photo because all I see if RED. You may need to gently bathe the chick(keep head above water) with a little Dawn dish soap & warm water. Work if through all the plastered down areas, then rinse well. Dry chick thoroughly before putting back in brooder. If all the feathers don't fluff up, you may need to repeat.

Thank you for the advice. We gave it a bath yesterday with the dawn dish soap and the chick looks a million times better today!