Chick is 2 and a half days old and still won’t stand or dry out

[Kyah_02]

My chick is approaching the 3 day mark and still won’t stand or dry out. It just lays there on it’s back, occasionally flapping it’s wings, but makes a lot of noise. One of its legs shakes a lot and it’s still not drying out it fluffed up a little behind the legs but otherwise it won’t dry.

 

[sylviethecochin]

Okay, time to worry. It's not that he's not dried out, it's that there's a thin coating on each and every fluff-feather, and he needs friction to take those coatings off. You can probably pull him out, run your fingernails down the shafts, and just shed the coatings, at this point. But I don't think that's the main issue.

Can you make a chick seat to keep him upright? Give him some water with chick vitamins (make sure B and E are included. If they're not, add them.)

@azygous
@Eggcessive?

 

[RubyNala97]

It looks like his head is twisted back. Maybe severe wry neck...? It looks very wet in there (there’s lots of condensation on the window, which is usually a sign that your humidity is to high). I would definitely get the chick out and see what’s going on. Hold it in your hand, upright and see what’s going on with the neck.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Agree... now it's time to worry.

And your humidity is way too high... Are you using a hygrometer? If so what does it say?

Any of your other chicks hatch? Where did you get the hatching eggs? What day did that chick hatch on, relative to incubation period?

It's been like that since hatch... and never made any progress towards standing up... with no friends... I would cut my losses and cull now.

Always hopeful though!

 

[lazy gardener]

Pretty much agreed with ES4L, with this exception. You might try getting a drop of Poultry Nutri Drench into him. Do not put the drop directly in his mouth, but hold him in a supported position, and let the drop wick into the side of his mouth from a q tip soaked in the PND. Be sure not to double dip back into the bottle. You don't want to contaminate the contents of the bottle. If you can get some PND into him, try a bit of sugar water or electrolyte solution, Repeat every couple hours with the lytes, and 3 x/day with the PND.

Drop the humidity ALL THE WAY DOWN in your bator. and get him on some padding. Perhaps some fabric that won't catch his toenails. If no change with this supportive care, he needs to be culled sooner than later.

If he hatched by himself, I'm thinking that if you can get his system up and running with the PND and sugar water, he may pull through.

 

[Kyah_02]

Agree... now it's time to worry.

And your humidity is way too high... Are you using a hygrometer? If so what does it say?

Any of your other chicks hatch? Where did you get the hatching eggs? What day did that chick hatch on, relative to incubation period?

It's been like that since hatch... and never made any progress towards standing up... with no friends... I would cut my losses and cull now.

Always hopeful though!

It says 60 now, it was fluctuating between 60 and 70, there was a couple power outages and the eggs were from my chickens. This egg hatched on day 24 and now it’s day 27 I water candled the others and they were alive I’m just worried that they will be weak. One was moving so hopefully it pips soon.

 

[WVduckchick]

Sorry for the weak hatch, but yea, get that chick out now and see if it will perk up. I agree with the Poultry Nutridrench if you have some. Good luck!

 

[WVduckchick]

Candle the remaining eggs and look for drawdown or internal pips.
Did you actually see them move in the water candle? Or did they just float? There is a lot of misinformation about how to do it. (I hate that test, by the way)

 

[EggSighted4Life]

It says 60 now, it was fluctuating between 60 and 70, there was a couple power outages and the eggs were from my chickens. This egg hatched on day 24 and now it’s day 27 I water candled the others and they were alive I’m just worried that they will be weak. One was moving so hopefully it pips soon.

If it says 60% and has that much condensation... I think it is off. And if that's off your temp might be also. Make SURE to get a second calibrated therm/hygrometer for you next hatch... huge impact on hatch rates!

Power outages can cause major deformities... having a couple and hatching THAT late... surprised it's even still trying. Try what LG suggested right away!

I suspect your outages played a major role in this instance if they lasted very long... BUT since the eggs are from your flock... make sure nutrition isn't diminished by snacks or treats at least a few weeks before collecting eggs. 22% protein was shown to give the best hatches... and personally have the best hatches when I supplement scrambled egg a few times a couple weeks before hatching.

 

[Kyah_02]

Candle the remaining eggs and look for drawdown or internal pips.
Did you actually see them move in the water candle? Or did they just float? There is a lot of misinformation about how to do it. (I hate that test, by the way)

I don’t either I just wanted to make sure they were actually alive before I tossed them, and I did see slight movement in most during water candling and regular candling