Crusted chick

[mamaginabean]

I'm sorry if this has been addressed before, I don't want to waste any time searching so I can get fixing this poor thing. I had a chick hatch last night/this morning, and he is completely crusty. He was in the incubator just a chirping away, so I went to check on him.....his eyes are cemented shut, and he was glued to the bottom of the incubator. He looks very wet but he is completely dry- just crusted. The poor thing can't even move because he's so coated.

What can I do to help him? Most obvious solution would be to give him a bath, but I mean- it's a few hour old chick, that would most likely kill him. I'm thinking that him struggling to move while it's futile is going to wear him out and quite possibly kill him

Help?!

 

[LarryPQ]

run him under warmish water and immediately blow dry him?

 

[noitulover]

you could try using warm water and a paper towel or wash cloth and dab and gently rub at the crust to see if you can't remove just enough so that the chick can see and is mobile. you can get the rest when the chick is a bit more rested and alert.

 

[Chicken Fruit]

I've washed day old chicks under warm water from the bathroom sink faucet. And then just blow dried them right away. You have to keep your hand on the chick at all times with teh dryer, or else they can burn, just wave it back and force fairly quickly and the temperature will be jusssst right.

And then stuff the chick right under the heat lamp- with some sugar water to spike their metabolism and encourage their inner core temp to raise.

You cant very well just leave it in the bator like that, so its better to wash it and keep it warm.

 

[Three Cedars Silkies]

Give it a bath in warm water and get as much off as you can. I use a washcloth to help remove the goo.

It's usually from too low temps or too high humidity.

 

[Highland Moongazer]

And whatever you do, don't just leave them. I had a quail baby die of this just last night. Poor little guy was just a wad of crust all around and I think it made it hard to breathe.

 

[mamaginabean]

Thanks everyone for your replies! I ended up taking a bowl of warm water and holding chick by the head and submerging him (I had a space heater going right next to the bowl to keep him/her warm). I had to leave him in there for quite a while and the crust still wasn't loosening, so I stuck a bit of natural dish soap on and started scrubbing. I used a cotton swab on his eyes. Then I blow dried him as much as I could and stuck him back in the incubator. He's chirping up a storm and I can hear him moving around. He's still pretty darn crusted, but at least he can move now.