chick hatched with shell stuck to it...feathers very wiry

[ourroostisbest]

This is our second time hatching. With our first we had eight eggs, and six hatched all on their own within 12 hours of each other on the 21st day. We disposed of the unhatched eggs after three days.
With this hatch, we had six eggs. Two of them hatched on the 20th day. The second one was very weak, but seems to be better(2 days old). A third one had pipped late on the 20th day. We thought for sure we would have a new chick in the incubator when we woke up, not so! I had made progress, so we left it alone. Left the house for 6 hours, knowing we would have one when we returned, not so! It had made more progress. We could see its yellow feathers and the egg was cracked all the way around, but the chick was flopping and flailing, like it was stuck. Finally, 24 hours after pipping and afraid to leave it to its own accord overnight, my husband pulled the shell off of the chick. It had bits of the shell stuck to its back and this seemed to really bother it b/c it continued to flop and flail. We were afraid it would injury itself, so we picked the bits of shell off its back, kept the chick in the incubator overnight, and it is not looking good. It feathers will not fluff(very wiry) It looks like it has bare spots. The chick is very small and unsteady. any advice?

 

[chicksinthemachine]

Is it with the others?

 

[twigg]

You can use warm water and a paper towel to remove most of the stuck shell. A few little bits left over will eventually fall off.

Keep it warm, with food and water. It will amke it or it won't.

It sounds like the incubator MAY have been a degree too warm, but there are other possibilities, including weak parent stock, poorly nourished parents, humidity issues in last three days ...

The list goes on. You can be sure that most factors were ok, because they hatched.

Next time, make sure the stock is good, and use a good thermometer and hygrometer.

By the way .... the last time we had a chick like the one you describe ..... it was extremely slow to grow and feather, long after the others. It is now laying eggs

 

[ourroostisbest]

I did put it with the other two, and kept a very close eye on it. The second one that hatched, which was a little weak, lays beside of it. That one seems to be taking care of the newest one. We have just left it alone, and it seems a bit better this afternoon......has started eating a little and drinking water. Feathers have even fluffed a bit.

We think the humidity may have been too low