I had a duckling who was trying to get out of its shell for 3 days...so today...I'll admit I helped it out a little because it seemed so weak...but still chirping. I laid it on a towel in the incubator and it seems to be getting a little more lively since its warming up... is there anything I can do to help the little booger out?.. it also has..what looks like a prolaspe?? on its belly kind of? like an outie belly button.
I wish I had better news or advice but chicks born like that don't live much longer than 24 hrs. (If it is trailing a bloody umbilical cord).
It has not yet absorbed the yolk, and that is what you see on the belly. It will go way. You can peel the shell back to the half mark of the egg. You can also pull the membrane back too, but must stop when you see blood. Never, ever try to pull the baby out our you can rupture the unabsorbed yolk and that will kill it. I don't know how much you have done, so I just listed the helping out information. Best is not to interfere, but once you start you have to make it to the halfway mark. You can always stop and take breaks and let the baby rest for 4 hours. For now Leave it in the incubator until it is running around. Don['t worry about food, they can go for a day or two without. You can always mix on some electrolytes with a little bit of sugar and give it one sip of this kind of water. Do not force it to drink. One sip only!
Since it sounds like you have already helped it completely out, and its still alive, your just seeing the place where it is or was the yolk sac and the little belly button will go away later.
I have successfully put a bandaid over the belly of a chick to keep the guts from coming out. The chick healed and grew up just fine. It is hard to know what you are talking about without a picture, but that is the best advice I can give you. Do you have a brooder to put it in, with a heat lamp?
I agree. I had helped mine out back in october and I was also worried because of his outie belly button, but it was fine. I left him like that and kept checking on him. He eventually absorbed the yolk and his "outie" disappeared and today he is happy and healthy boy.
Thank you for all your advice... We left it in the incubator lastnight and gave it some mashed up yolk. We went to bed thinking we would wake up to a non living duckling... But we woke up to a very lively duckling... it did a total 180. The yolk sac dried and came off on it's own.
