HELP please - had to hep a chick out!

[hd_darcy]

OK, so I had a chick that was drying up. Very weak and no progress all day. I could see there was not going to be progress. So, I hatched the chick. Which took me forever, and I was a nervous wreck. However, now the yolk is attached just by a tiny little piece of...looks like snot.. (sorry for the word). I'm assuming I can just clip that? It's very thin like the size of thread, maybe a bit bigger... Or do I just leave it?

Please answer quick. I have the baby under the heat lamp now. Hoping she comes to okay. Very weak so far, and just laying breathing, but not moving just yet.. I'm sure very wore out.

Thank you!

 

[mandymae1984]

Is it just the cord is like tiny string or is the whole yolk still there? If the yolk is there then it didn't ever absorb it and will probably die however if the yolk is gone and it's just what's left after cord etc. then mostly I let my chicks let that part dry out on it's own and it falls off.

 

[hd_darcy]

Thank you for the info. I didn't see yolk really, but there is some gooey stuff there.... I didn't look really well. But I will just leave it alone. I didn't know if it would be bad if it tried to walk and then pulled on it? It's becoming more lively, but still not standing.

Thank you!

 

[hd_darcy]

Well, he/she died. I don't understand at all though because he seemed to be coming to life really well. I came back in the house to check to see if I had any replies here, and went back and not alive. UGH..... And then to make matters worse my kids watched me hatch it. Could I have done something wrong while hatching? There were two times where I poked and had a tiny bit of blood, but it wasn't bad at all. The egg was soooo dried out. There is no way he/she would have came out without my help. I have "passed" on helping before, and then I felt horrible I didn't try. So, I guess I can know we did all we could anyway. Still, such a bummer. I hatched one another by hand a couple years ago because of the same issue (only other time I tried), and that chicken was great, and was a favorite for a long time....

 

[mandymae1984]

I have helped my chicks hatch before when they were stuck I have had a couple to die even though it seemed fine at first. I even had one to live almost a whole week was eating and drinking fine but those two (I didn't realize it until they died) had part of what looked to be like intestinal tract stuck out of their belly button. Almost like a crusty rough like texture bump where their cord was. Come to find out or so I was told where they were probably stuck (probably had the humidity too low during hatch or temp too high at times during incubation) they became stuck to the shell and it didn't go in like it was supposed to so then their food couldn't digest or they couldn't poop/pee properly so they died. I was so heartbroken the first time b/c like I said it lived almost a week walking chirping eating drinking then all of a sudden gone in a matter of about an hour I noticed it just started getting weaker and weaker....the second one did the same thing. Not sure if this is your cause but it might be. I have helped numerous times with no issues though! Like you said I'd rather try than let it die in the shell! So sorry you lost this one though

 

[mandymae1984]

Also when they are dried out I always take a q-tip and wet it with warm water to wet around the area of the shell that I'm helping to wet the membrane. When it becomes transparent again you can see if there are blood vessels that are intact still. If I see large veins I stop and put it back in the incubator for a couple hours then try again...if they are tiny (look more like red scratches) and not bleeding I keep moving forward t help the chick. I keep the warm water and q-tip handy the entire time. I finish the zipping for the chick and wet the membrane (careful not to let chick get water in its notrils or it can drown) and then I try to let it come out of the shell that way on it's own usually they will in minutes then I put them back in the bator to let them dry out and warm back up for a while.