My chick died! What happened?

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hunthaven said:
I had two baby chicks, Salt and Pepper, hatch six days ago. They seemed to be doing fine. Last night I changed their paper towels, water, and gave them fresh food. I vaccinated them for Marek's with 24 hours of hatch. Pepper seems to be doing fine, but this morning, Salt was dead.

The ONLY thing I could see that was unusual was her rear--a yellowish discharge (see photo) that reminded me of vent gleet, but I've never heard of such a thing in a chick. I've posted photos of her with the discharge AND the little poops on their paper toweling this morning.

Last night, I held both chicks and gently stroked their heads--I can't think of anything that was out of the ordinary, and she didn't act sick or droopy or lethargic. Can anyone help? I've never lost a chick before, and I don't want to lose another one if it can be prevented.

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Im so sorry!! They are so cute :)
 
Yolk sac infection--I'll have to read up on that. Both of them had long hatching--both pipped and then didn't unzip within 24 hours, so I had to help them out of the shell. Pepper was completely in the wrong position, but Salt managed to get herself out of the shell. And as of now, Pepper is fine, but lonely. I gave her a mirror and let her watch chicken chirping on Youtube for a couple of hours today. :-/. Tomorrow I'm getting a brooder playpen, and I think I'll put her in there with two one-week old chicks I have so she can have flock mates.
 
hunthaven said:
Yolk sac infection--I'll have to read up on that. Both of them had long hatching--both pipped and then didn't unzip within 24 hours, so I had to help them out of the shell. Pepper was completely in the wrong position, but Salt managed to get herself out of the shell. And as of now, Pepper is fine, but lonely. I gave her a mirror and let her watch chicken chirping on Youtube for a couple of hours today. :-/. Tomorrow I'm getting a brooder playpen, and I think I'll put her in there with two one-week old chicks I have so she can have flock mates.
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It's probably one of the more common causes of death in young chicks, and it's pretty easy to check for if you want to do a necropsy. I'll understand if you don't though. :hugs
 
hunthaven said:
I thought about doing a necropsy, but didn't know what to look for in a chick that small. I'm learning something new every day, though . . . .
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As you know, they absorb their yolks just before they hatch. What I learned recently is that by day 10 after hatch their yolks should be completely digested. Since your chick was only six days old I might still have some yolk left, but it shouldn't be much.

Anyway, if you were to carefully slice open the belly and take pictures, I could comment on them based on a few in have done.
 
Last edited:
aart said:
By 10 days old after hatch, correct?
My first thought when seeing that was day 10 of incubation...maybe I've just not had enough coffee yet?
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Yes, after hatching.
hunthaven said:
Thank you for the offer, but I have already disposed of the body. BUT--next time I will do it.
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:hugs
 

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