newly hatched chick seems a bit wobbly?????

[daniellenoel]

he hatched this afternoon and seems a bit "wobbly"
he is holding his head up pretty well just seems a bit off balance. Is this normal??
I am very new at this and he is the first one to hatch.. we are on day 23 today. no others have hatched.. some eggs moving a little but no more hatches. don't have a good feeling about the rest.. poor little guy he is all alone...

humidity and temp have been good the whole time...
humidity was a little lower the 1st day of lockdown.. 58% but got it back to 65%
any suggestions?????

 

[chickee]

Sounds like maybe your humidity was a bit high during incubation. This is only a guess, because I had a batch hatch like this and that is what I thought happened with mine. I found out later that my digital hygrometer was reading way wrong!

Recently I read that if it doesn't have a fresh battery this can happen. The 4 chicks that did hatch looked too heavy and wet and didn't stand for quite awhile and one kept falling on its back and couldn't get up. I had to help it back on its feet several times, but after a day it was fine and is a beautiful 4 month old BLGW pullet!

So don't worry, your chick will be fine! and it is a good sign that you have eggs moving!! Hang in there and don't open the incubator. Sometimes chicks can hatch up until day 25! Your chick will be fine in there for another day. GOOD LUCK!

 

[Barry Natchitoches]

I had a broody hen hatch two chicks last December, and one of them was wobbley just like you described. That lasted for about a day or two, then he gradually gained strength and balance.


I worried alot about him during that first 24 to 36 hours, even afraid I might loose him.


But he's now a healthy, strappling 20 week old rooster. Looking at him today, you'd never think he got off to a wobbly start.



More recently, I got four Delaware chicks recently. They were two to three days old when I got them.


One of the birds was noticibly smaller and more wobbly than the others, even at that "advanced" age. He was so much smaller than the other birds that my wife and I named him Little Runt.


At their last weigh in (at 21 days old), Little Runt was 8 ounces, which was the same weight as one of the birds who was alot bigger during those first few days, and only one ounce smaller than the other two birds. It's getting hard to tell which one of the chicks is Little Runt nowadays, because the bird has caught up with his/her cagemates.


Little Runt is also as healthy as his/her cagemates.


So I guess I wouldn't worry too much about your little chick. But I would keep an eye on the baby, to make sure that it does not have real problems, and also to make sure that other birds don't pick on the wobbly one too much.

 

[elmo]

When they first hatch under the hen, they stay there resting until they dry off and for quite a few hours more, gaining their strength. We had a hen leave a newly hatched chick behind in the nest to lead her other chicks out. We were worried about her too, and even took her to the vet because she couldn't stand up on her legs. We feared spraddle leg or something like that.

But the vet confirmed it was just a normal, newly hatched chick. He recommended we keep her warm (of course) and offer boiled egg yolk, crumbled to bits. We hand brooded her all day, slipped her back under her hen that night, and by morning, she was up on her little legs running around with the other chicks.