Peachick with swollen neck

[Marta Gunn]

Hi, my chick hatched out this morning. It is listless, and has swelling on the neck at the base of its head. Any idea what I can do to help it?

 

[casportpony]

Welcome to BYC. I have seen this in newly hatched chicks, and it usually goes away in a few days. How high was your humidity during incubation?

 

[Marta Gunn]

Welcome to BYC. I have seen this in newly hatched chicks, and it usually goes away in a few days. How high was your humidity during incubation?

Thank you so much for writing back. I can't tell you the relief I am feeling right now.
I don't know what the reading was. I kept water in the incubator at all times, temp at 100 degrees. There is no humidity gauge on the machine. This is a new machine, first eggs to go through it. The first chick hatched out no problem. 2nd one took 22 hours and I gently removed the remainder of the shell and membrane off. The chick sleeps most of the time, had a really good poo on me this afternoon. Strangely enough, that made me very happy.

 

[KsKingBee]

That swelling in the neck is the muscle that goes into contraction as the chick begins to pip. When it is having problems breaking out caused by malpositioning or high humidity during incubation it can swell as the muscle is overworked. As Kathy said it will reduce in size in a day or two as the chick absorbs its excess liquids.

 

[casportpony]

How is it today?

 

[Marta Gunn]

That swelling in the neck is the muscle that goes into contraction as the chick begins to pip. When it is having problems breaking out caused by malpositioning or high humidity during incubation it can swell as the muscle is overworked. As Kathy said it will reduce in size in a day or two as the chick absorbs its excess liquids.

Thank you! This is my first adventure in hatching eggs, so I get concerned easily over everything that doesn't look right. I appreciate your explanation, it makes sense. Hmmm, malpositioning...thinking about it, his legs were out first. Is that normal?
The chick is doing much better today. He's working on standing, his eyes are bright and overall, looks stronger. Thank you so much for your help!
Marta

 

[Marta Gunn]

How is it today?

Thank you so much for checking back with me. I am happy to say that the chick is doing much better today. He is standing a bit, sleeping a bit and is awake a bit. Big improvement from yesterday when he was just sleeping all the time. (That scared me, because I've seen chicks that sleep more and more and then they die.) His eyes are bright and overall looks much stronger today.
I've had peacocks for 5 years now, chickens...for ever. The peahen always took care of hatching the eggs. Each year, there were eggs left out of the nest, usually the first ones she laid. I figured they had gone bad by the time she was ready to set. This is the first time I have tried to hatch some eggs, so there are a lot of things that I'm unsure of. I appreciate your advice as it seems information about peacocks is pretty scarce on the internet. Either that or I'm just looking in the wrong places, which could be the case.
Thanks again!
Marta

 

[casportpony]

You're right, there's not much information about this condition. I've noticed it mostly in peachicks and ducklings that I have incubated, rarely in those hatched by broodies. I suspect it's caused by humidity being too high.

 

[KsKingBee]

Thank you! This is my first adventure in hatching eggs, so I get concerned easily over everything that doesn't look right. I appreciate your explanation, it makes sense. Hmmm, malpositioning...thinking about it, his legs were out first. Is that normal?
The chick is doing much better today. He's working on standing, his eyes are bright and overall, looks stronger. Thank you so much for your help!
Marta

As the chick zips around the egg pushing with its feet a talon will stick out the crack and with a kicking motion, it will expel itself. After the chick kicks out the head is first to emerge and rests for short moments as it builds strength. As it awakens it will become dry more alert, and begin to find its balance.

 

[Marta Gunn]

You're right, there's not much information about this condition. I've noticed it mostly in peachicks and ducklings that I have incubated, rarely in those hatched by broodies. I suspect it's caused by humidity being too high.

Hi, the chick is hanging in there, however it does have issues.
Its feet are clenched up. I've got them flattened out and bandaged.
It appears his legs are splayed. I looked on line and saw how to bind them to get them to heal. However I am open to advice.
And his right leg sticks straight out in front of him. His knee joint is stiff. I looked on line and found a pic that looks like his leg. It's called slipped tendon.
I think his legs are the major detriment to his health right now. I am looking to find a way to repair his leg. Have you seen this before? Is the repair something I can do?
The chick is eating and drinking, sleeping a lot and he's also pooping.
I'm pooped...been a long week and it's only Wednesday.