Should I remove stick slime on newly hatched chick?

[texaschickmom]

This was the last of my hatch and I had to "intervene" and help it out. It is now in the hatcher alone and recovering. As it is drying I've noticed the top part of the shell is stuck to the chick's back. It still hasn't gotten its feet under itself yet. Should I pull the chick out and try to remove this with warm water or just leave it alone for awhile? Thanks for any help...

 

[Ridgerunner]

It is probably best to leave it alone for a while to see if the problem takes care of itself. if it does not take care of itself before you add the chick to the others, I would soak and remove any shell or membrane on the chick, being real careful removing the membrane so you don't tear the skin. Use warm water and don't let the chick be in a breeze or it might chill.

You will probably find that the down is matted down like it has glue in it when it dries. Don't worry about that. It should wear off in about a week, then the chick's down will look normal. The Mama hen and other chicks did not bother mine like that.

 

[SilkieMomma]

I would leave it alone.

 

[texaschickmom]

Thanks guys for the quick responses. I'll just leave it be for now. He/she seems very worn out, as am I!

 

[Tuffoldhen]

Leave it alone, it causes more damage to try to take it off. Leave the chick in the bator and it will dry up on it's own. They can live upto 3 days in the bators without food or water. They live off the yolk sac and that is the slime your talking about that needs to be absorbed and dry up.

 

[texaschickmom]

Quote:
I am taking your advice and keeping hands off for awhile. Thanks for your help.

 

[AKeaton]

Oh my, the exact same thing happened to me this past weekend. The last one to hatch, I had to help it out and the shell was stuck to it's back and head. There was that sticky goo all over it's body too. Mine still has its down stuck to it's head but the rest of it's body has been fluffing out daily. But I, not knowing what to do, went ahead and got the shell off and rinsed the goo off the best I could and put it back into the bator to dry off. Maybe that was the wrong thing to do, but I panicked.

The little chick is doing just fine.

 

[FuzzyButtsFarm]

I had a chick that hatched like that. She was the last one to hatch. She didn't have the shell stuck to her but even after the slime dryed she didn't fluff out. After about a wk. I gave her a warm bath and dryed her with a hair dryer set on low to make sure it wasn't to hot. She seemed of enjoy it.

She's the black one standing on the thermometer.

 

[texaschickmom]

Thank you for ALL of your encouragement! I just cleaned the little guy/girl off and put her back in the hatcher to fluff dry. Hopefully by tomorrow morning she'll be in with the others.