Helped chick hatch...oddity on its shoulder?

[Chotii]

Background:

This egg arrived to me with a hairline fracture at the small end. I sealed it with candle wax and crossed my fingers. It developed a small air pocket at the small end, but otherwise developed normally.

All the other eggs have hatched now. Due date was yesterday (morning). Some hatched yesterday morning; some hatched last night during the night; one hatched an hour ago. This is the only one left.

It pipped and has broken/flaked off quite a lot of shell, but only in one spot. The visible membrane (about .5cm x 1cm squarish) there is white/dry. Bator humidity is 70%, 99-100F. The incubator has been opened a couple of times but immediately misted so that humidity has never dropped (on the electronic hygrometer) below 65%.

<See update below>

 

[Jerad0]

I would zip and open the membrane

 

[Chotii]

Erk. That was a mistake.

I pulled away a bit of membrane and immediately blood welled out - several drops, I don't know how much. I applied pressure until it looked like it had stopped bleeding, then wrapped the whole up in press-n-cling plastic wrap except for a breathing hole. I feel bad about that.

Poor little biddie.

It's back in the bator now. Still cheeping.

 

[Chotii]

I helped the last chick hatch. It did seem to be 'stuck' with dry membrane, maybe. And maybe not.

It has an odd thing on its shoulder, like a large water blister. Has anybody seen similar? I can't tell if the thing hurts the chick or not, as it's just now uncurled and is trying to find its strength. It's still peeping and thrashing, so has strength enough for that.

I don't want to cull if there is no suffering involved.

 

[jossanne]

How's it going? Did the baby in the waxed egg make it out? How's the blister doing?

 

[Chotii]

I helped the baby in the waxed egg out, after 24 hours and no progress.

I'm not willing to cull it, because it doesn't seem to be suffering, but I believe it's blind in one eye.

The eyelid will not close. The water blister thingy is still there, and I tried draining it with a sterilized needle, but after 2 punctures and no fluid released, I stopped trying. Poor baby.

It's fluffy, it's cheeping, it's holding its head up, it dislikes being walked over by the other chicks. I hope it lives, but I've told the kids not to expect it to live.

 

[johnnalei]

I'm not sure if it's the same thing. But it seems like all the chicks I've hatched have had a weird blister thing on one side of one shoulder. I noticed it on I think all of the chicks in my last hatch and one chick has hatched out of my current batch this morning and has it. Is this normal?? Anyone know what it is? BTW...all the chicks that had it in my last hatch are a month old and healthy.

 

[Pick-a-LilyFarm]

I would never pop a blister on a human or a chicken for that matter. The blister holds natural antibodies that the body produces to help heal and protect the tissue from infection.