Help required!

[Emms J]

Looking for advice, we just assisted a chick to hatch, unfortunately there is hard yolk & shell attached to its wing and neck, any recommendations on what to do. We bathed it in some warm water to get some of it off but worried the poor chick gets too traumatised any help would be welcome please

 

[RubyNala97]

There shouldn’t be any yolk attached to the chick. Are you sure it’s yolk? Can you post a pic? Was the chicks naval closed when it hatched?

 

[Emms J]

The chick had pipped and it’s beak was showing for over 48hrs, cheeping and movement but not able to get out so we assisted it and the yolk or membrane was rock hard and stuck to its wing. We’ve bathed and gently dried the chick and put back into incubator just keeping everything crossed it makes it now

 

[RubyNala97]

Ok, it’s probably not the yolk then and it’s just the fluid inside the egg and the membrane. In cases like that it can dry like glue. The most important thing is to make sure that the eyes, the nostril holes, and the vent hole are cleared from the sticky stuff. The chicks need to breath and be able to go to the bathroom and sometimes those areas can get glued over. Use a warm, damp q-tip to make sure those areas are clear. Otherwise it won’t really hurt the chick if his body fluff is hard and stiff from that stuff. If that happens to me I usually wait until the chick is a little stronger and then give a warm bath and blow dry. You can even just take a dry towel and try to rub it over the chick to get some of that stuff off.

 

[Emms J]

The naval was closed we had to assist it to hatch as we could see it was stuck solid inside

 

[RubyNala97]

The naval was closed we had to assist it to hatch as we could see it was stuck solid inside

I understand. Do you know what the vent is? It’s the small slit on the bottom of the chick where they go to the bathroom. Just make sure it is not sealed shut by the sticky stuff. Gently use a warm q-tip and clean it to make sure the chick can go to the bathroom.

 

[Emms J]

Thanks for you help, I appreciate you getting back! Fingers crossed!!! X