one sticky chick... will not dry or fluff out??? ideas?

maf2008

Songster
12 Years
Feb 19, 2009
429
4
209
one americana chick..... all the others are fluffy and dry. This little one was the last hatch and I kept in the bator an extra day. I put in with other chicks and it got pecked on... so back in the bator.
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next day... this little "ugly" one its feathers are stuck but not fluffy... I did try to wipe it with a warm cloth under the heat lamp.... one hour later.... fleathers just stick in clumps.
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All ideas appreciated. I do not usually bathe my chicks! But what ever works....
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By the way.... out of 59 viable eggs... I had 50 live hatches! WOW!
I "dipped" all eggs in water with a few drops of chlorene bleach and parr dry and then into the bator for a "dry incubation" (only a few teaspoons of water) unil the last day I partially filled the water tray.

This was the best batch ever!
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OK, I have to disagree on this one. If it is one that got sticky in the shell, and is dry but not fluffy, you must give it a bath or it won't fluff until it feathers out, if it lives that long. I had one like that and his wings were stuck to his sides. and his head looked crooked because the feathers were all stuck together. I ran tap water til it was barely warm and held the little guy in the running water. Since then I have also had a couple that I ran a wash basin with warm water and swished them back and forth and gently wiped with a rag. Sometimes the membrane from inside the shell will rehydrate and peel off. This is what keeps them from fluffing up. After making sure all the membrane is gone, I carefully towel dry. You can gently blow dry from a distance, but I usually put mine under the brooder light or in the incubator if it is still going. As long as your water is warm enough, and you keep them warm while drying, getting them wet isn't going to hurt them. Just make sure you keep their little heads above water!
 
Sometimes I can get the critical spots with a (warm) wet Q-tip. After they're a day old, I can sometimes just rub the feathers gently between my fingers and they'll separate. My last one was a Blue Ameracauna that couldn't hatch by itself. It is finally as fluffy as the rest...They will "preen" the sticky out of their feathers once they get big enough to preen. Watch for his/her eyelids to be stuck shut. They have extra feathers on their cheek tufts which seem to get in the way of their eyes when they are having trouble. Once again, I use a wet Q-tip to swab them open.
 
could you possibly use and unscented baby wipe to get the chick clean? If its gentle enough for a human newborn, it seems like it might be ok for the chick. I would heat the wipes first.
 
I wrapped him in a wool sock and my daughter has him nestled against her chest under her sweater. He seems okay, I just didn't want to leave him with the other chicks if he had something contagious, which doesn't seem to be the case. I did have a chick last fall that was sticky coming out of the shell and then developed an infection in both eyes. He didn't make it sad to say, but none of the other chicks were affected. This current one is a Cream Leg Bar and Olandsk Dwarf cross so he is small to begin with. He came from a green egg!
 
New here. just want to thank you guys! I have one that hatched the last and not fluffing after staying about 24hrs already in the incubator. I put her to our brooder with heating lamp and voila in a couple hours it fluffed beautifully. I didn’t wash her cuz I was worried it catches cold 😅.

she also had a sticking egg shell to her cord but already twisted cord and mostly dry which I cut near the egg shell. Now she seems happy.

Gave them nutri-drench and they seem to work great!
 

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