New to the Chick World; I'm concerned about newly hatched chick

[Cutest Chick in NC]

Hi! I'm VERY new to the chick world and I'm hoping someone here can help me out.

I homeschool my 2 kids, and we've been doing a "Chick Study" the past few weeks.
( Just for peace of mind for those who may be wondering, when all the chicks are old enough, they will be going to a WONDERFUL farm where my daughter takes horse lessons. : )
9 out of the 15 chicks we were given showed to be fertile. This past week (the last week week of the incubation stage.) 2 of the 9 chicks died in their shell. (One of them being the DAY BEFORE they hatched! *sniff*) The other 7 chicks however, all came out of their shells today.
Our 2 biggest eggs were the first to pip and progressed way ahead of all the others. They then stopped and had the hardest time getting out of their shells. As a result, all the other chicks hatched before them. By the time they both finally came out, the inside lining of the shell was hardening. ( In case it matters, I had the humidity around 50% during the 21 days, and around 60% during the hatching stage.) Both of the chicks look a lot more bare then the others, and when all their fuzz dried up, both still had a wet look, but with a hard crusty feel. (Which I understand.) I'm rather concerned about one of them though, because when it finally pushed out of it's shell and started to wobble about, it made a squishy noise and green/white liquid-like mucus oozed out from behind it. (I couldn't tell though if it came from it's stomach, or it's tush.) He has since done this 2 more times. If he didn't have such a rough hatch, I would have thought it to be simply waste. (Although none of the others chicks have done that yet.) I have tried to Google search what it is, but I couldn't find anything. Does anyone know what's happening? Was he possibly hurt on the way out of his egg? I'm concerned he may be in pain, or slowly dying. : (

I am also wondering about their fuzz. How will it become clean and soft like the others when it's plastered so hard to their skin?


Thanks so much! : )


~Susin

Questions I was able to answer from the list : )

1) What type of bird , age and weight: And I quote from the guy who gave us the eggs, "Just your everyday chicken." ; )
3) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma: A little bleeding from the abdominal. (Just enough to see a faint pinkish/red circle outline in the paper towel.)
5) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all: I put a lid (filled with marbles ; ) with water in the brooder.

 

[Imp]

First let me say I know almost nothing about hatching, but I read a lot. And if I'm wrong someone will correct me.

The 2 chicks that are not fuzzy sounds like what's called "shrink wrapped" When the humidity is low during the last couple days, and the membrane sticks to them. I think you can gently wash it off with warm water. As far as the leaking chick I cannot help. Someone will chime in.

Imp- Good Luck

Also Welcome to BYC.

 

[Glenda L Heywood]

ARE THEY 3 DAYS OLD?
if so give them some starter chick feed
I would say the greenish fluid comes from the vent and usually means their body is eating the yolk the went up inside of it
also you can put a
iodine/ water
1 tsp of water
1/2 tsp of iodine
now with qtip put the iodine water on the navel where the body absorbed the egg yolk
keep putting the iodine water on every day
will not get infection in it

the greenish fluid should stop as soon as they get some chick starter
put some sugar in the water for two days for energy

that should keep them good
do you have the temp 95-98 degrees for first week then 2nd week drop 5 degrees and every week drop temp 5 degrees
are they in a brooder or what

as they are away from heat means they are comfortable
as they will chirp if too hot and chirp if too cold and hug the light

email me PM for any other questions

 

[Cutest Chick in NC]

Imp-
Thank you for the warm welcome! : ) BYC has been by far my best resource through this whole study and I'm glad to have found it! : )

Regarding the humidity: Where is it suppose to be at? I thought I read that it was suppose to be between 50 & 75%. I tried to stay on the lower end of that because I didn't want to chance drowning them. I had the humidity around 50% up til they began to pip, and around 60% during the hatching stage.
I thought about rinsing them off, but I was afraid their little bodies wouldn't keep body temp and they'd freeze before they could heat back up in the brooder. Do chicks handle water well then??? : )


Glenda-
They were just born today.
Could the greenish fluid still be the result of the vent even if they were just born today? And can I use the iodine/ water and sugar water solutions if they were just born today?

Right now they are all in a brooder which is currently 95 degrees. Would 98 degrees be better???


Thank you both for replying! : )


~Susin

 

[Imp]

You are probably right about the humidity. I really don't know. I was kind of trying to welcome you and get you question some attention. So I regurgitated something else I've read here.
So I'm gonna do some more. I've read that chicks don't need to eat for a while after hatching (maybe a day or so) but people talk about dipping their beaks in water to get them to drink. Follow Glenda Heywood's advice- seems like she knows what she is talking about and has lots of experince with birds.

Sorry you're not getting a better response, BYC seems to be a little off today.

Imp/Russ

 

[Cutest Chick in NC]

Thanks Russ! I appreciate your taking the time to reply.

The chick has made it thus far. His feet are curled in and deformed. I did some research and made some sort of chick shoes to put on him. Hopefully they will work. However, with that said, I just now noticed a big bubble like cyst of some sort near it's neck.

I'm concerned it's going to rupture and kill him. I really feel bad for the little guy! What a way to be welcomed into the world! :,( . ~Susin

 

[ThePamperedPullet]

Welcome to the insanity.
You can lightly wash the chicks with warm water on a washcloth. Don't worry about getting it all off. They will fluff up in a couple of days.
We dry incubate and have had great success, usually between 90 and 100 percent hatch rate. Which is to say that we don't worry about the humidity. Here in Florida it stays at about 48 to 55 percent all the time in the incubator. Once our eggs go into the hatcher, we put a small metal cup of water in there is all.
As for the crooked feet, usually the shoes will cure the problem within 24 hours. If not, put the shoes back on for another 24.
As for eating and drinking, A chick can go for 3 days without food or water and will live off the yolk that it obsorbed into it's body. We give chick starter feed as soon as they can walk and also water. We dip their beaks so they know where it is.
As for the bubble on the ones neck, check it and see if it is not just a bubble of egg sack goo. Sometimes they will get part of the sack wrapped around them and you got to wet it and peel it off of them gently.
Chicks are very resilient.

 

[Imp]

Gosh I might have an answer. Imagine that. If the bubble is lower neck, right side I believe, it could just be the crop. When it's full of food it does look like a cyst. If it soft and squishy that's a good thing. Hard is bad as well as foul/sour breath.

Imp/Russ

 

[Cutest Chick in NC]

ThePamperedPullet - Thanks for the advice. I was concerned earlier about wiping the chick down and her getting to cold. I went ahead and took your advice though. I wiped off as much as I could, and hopefully it was enough to preen and fluff in a few days. : )

Russ- You are right! The bubble IS on the lower neck, right side, and it IS soft and squishy! : ) I'm glad to know it's not dangerous!!! (What the heck is a "crop" though???)

OK, so my next concern...

This same chick seems to have troubles beyond just it's feet. I couldn't put my finger on it before, but today I figured it out! When she walks, her legs don't stand up. She kinda walks/hobbles on the bend of the legs (knees?) and flops her feet forward. Even if her feet straighten out, she will still have trouble walking. How do I get her legs to straighten out? (If I even can.)


~Susin

 

[Imp]

Quote:
The crop is the "sack" that holds the food and grinds it up. When they eat a lot it fills up, kinda feels like a soft rubber ball.

Boy! Sorry I really don't have a clue about its legs. I've never hatched. I think I've read about this a few times here. I'll try to find some info and post links here in this thread. Can you take pictures and post in the Emergencies section. You'll get a better response there.

Russ- Poor chick starting off with so many problems.

I just realised that this is the Emergencies section- Duh.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=142707
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=145342