HELP: 3 day old chick with protrusion from stomach

[marlowmanor]

We just brought home 2 leghorn chicks from a local breeder who is NPIP certified. This morning we were handling them and my DH noticed a buildup on one of them. I thought it was just poopy butt and told him to wash it off with warm water. He came back and said that it wouldn't wash off so I got a closer look at it. Upon closer inspection I realized the chick has what looks like an umbilical cord on its stomach. (That is the best description I have for it). I was thinking about cutting it off when I thought it was just poop. But when I figured out that is was physically attached to him I stopped. The breeder is unavailable right now to get ahold of. I am hoping someone here can figure out what is wrong for me and tell me what to do about it.

Here is a picture.


Bottom is clear. It is housed with 9 other chicks of various ages from 3 days old to 2 1/2 weeks old. No other symptoms are present. It is acting like a normal chick. I did not see the same issue on the other leghorn chick we purchased or on the other chick we got the same day. DH really wanted some leghorns and he is upset that this one has issues.

 

[tadpole98]

Might want to put liquid bandage over it.

 

[chickenzoo]

Looks like an anbillical hernia . You can try to put some neosporine on it to keep it soft, if it looks like you can massage it back in , use neosporine on a q tip and gently massage it inward then place a circular band aid over it. If it doesn't, then just place the circular band aid over it to keep it from getting scratched and as the chick grows it should absorb back inward.

 

[nurse_turtle]

The chick may have hatched a bit early and had a yolk sac remnant which dried up and turned black. I believe it to be the umbilical stump, just like a newborn baby would have. It will eventually fall off. Just monitor it.

 

[marlowmanor]

Thank you for your replies. I asked the question a couple other places too and the general concensus was that it was like an umbilical cord stump and should fall off on it's on. So we will monitor it and let it fall off on its own.