My chicks decided to hatch 3 days early. Issue is, all of them are hatching out with at least 1/4 of the yolk sac hanging out. Is there anything I can do to help them survive?
I wish I knew! Hopefully someone with more experience will post... Poor chickadees... Love your signature.
leave them in the incubator. They might absorb it. Keep the humidity high. Dip their beaks in water a couple times a day to see if they are thirsty. Don't try to feed them. Good luck. They can make it. I would not put anything on the yolk besides STERILE normal saline if they start to look dry. DON"T put neosporin or any ointment, no peroxide, no betadine, no mercurachrome (do they still sell that stuff???) Good luck!
Humidity is way high. I'm still waiting on other chicks to hatch. What if they don't absorb it? Some of the yolk is in the incubator, so it's ruptured in at least one chick. I doubt they'll absorb it, but they seem so lively. Kills me that they may not make it. Darn.
Give them time. If they don't absorb it, their navels should close and they will hopefully be fine. i've had some pretty nasty open navels and unabsorbed yolk sacks and they recovered okay. Have had it go the other way, too. But generally, if they aren't going to make it they die fairly quickly after hatch. Good luck and fingers crossed.
I agree with the above posts about leaving the chicks in the incubator and seeing if the yolk absorbs. If it does not, then you have a two person job. Get ready sterile saline or boiled cooled water with a pinch of salt, lubricating jelly and a Band Aid, finger size or porous tape e.g Micropore. One person holds the chick steady. The other person makes sure that the nail on the little finger is very short and then washes hands thoroughly, wears gloves pr uses hand steriliser. Make sure that the yolk sac remnant is free from bits of eggs shell, or dirt. If anything present carefully remove it with a gauze pad dipped in saline. With the tip of the little finger dipped in sterile lubricating gel, very carefully and gently reduce the yolk sac remnant through the hole (if the hole is very large the chick is unlikely to survive). Once everything is inside place the Band Aid or tape across the defect and leave it there.It will eventually fall off and only needs replacing if there is a scab that that others may peck. This can be very successful and I have had a number of 'plaster bums' who have made healthy adults. Good Luck, Sandie
How long should I leave them in the incubator? The humidity is at 80% and they are not drying off. The Langshan is doing really well. Only the Brahmas are the ones with extreme prolapses. Darn...
the humidity is too high. they have absorbed too much water and are too bloated for the eggs, and are hatching out because of it. lower the humidity, but not too much. i had this happen with chicks i hatched out @ 85-90% humidity and many of them died. chicks that hatch @ about 70% are better at staying in the eggs til "it's time".
Whelp...the chicks are still alive, but the toes are curled inwards, the yolk sacs are still outside of the bodies. What a shame. Debating just culling and calling it good. Darnit. One of the chicks looks fairly ok. The other, no good at all, looks to be getting weaker. The Langshan chick is thriving. The yolk sacs are dried out and dead-looking. I'll be waiting until tomorrow to clip them off. Meanwhile, they've been offered water.
