Sick chick? Should I remove the goo hanging off of it?

[LoriC]

This chick hatched this morning. It seems to have goo stuck to it's posterior. I don't want to open the incubator unless I have to, as I have other eggs in there. Can anyone tell me from this pic if this is something I need to intervene with, or just leave it alone? The chick seems to be robust.

 

[Eggcessive]

I would leave it alone until your hatch is finished or 24 hours. It is probably the umbilicus (belly button) that is still attached. It will dry up and fall off.

 

[sumi]

Leave the chick like that in the incubator until it's completely dry. The "gunk" and the cord (which is attached to it's navel) will come off by itself. Do not remove it or pull on it as it can cause the navel to bleed and an open navel can get infected easily.

 

[LoriC]

Thank you for the replies. My instinct told me to leave it alone, so I have. This is just my 5th chick to hatch in the incubator, and the others haven't had any goo, so I didn't have to worry about it. I'll keep an eye on the little doob She's very vocal, and she's getting around ok, so unless the goo starts sticking her to the bottom of the incubator I think she will be alright. I was actually kind of surprised that she hatched. I had a staggered hatch in the incubator, and have had chicks hatching since last Tuesday. So there has been some humidity and temperature spikes, but it's been stable the last few days. I didn't think I would see a chick until tomorrow. Not sure if the other 3 have started to pip or not. I'm doing everything except sitting on my hands to keep from opening the incubator (just like every other newbie with an incubator, I'm sure).

Lori

 

[LoriC]

Oh how exciting! One of the other eggs has pipped. I'm putting my phone camera on time lapse, and will see if I can record any of it.

I tried it with one of the other hatches, but that hatch wound up dragging out over night. The one this morning when from pip to chick quite quickly, so perhaps I can actually get a video. Lookin' but not touchin'!

 

[LoriC]

Yay - the second chick has hatched! No goo on this one. The first chick's goo string has shortened up considerably, but I'll have to watch and make sure the new peep doesn't try to pull it. I can't wait to see the video!

 

[LoriC]

A short time-lapse of the actual hatch. I took video of the entire process, but I need to edit them together.

 

[Holiwwod]

Leave the chick like that in the incubator until it's completely dry. The "gunk" and the cord (which is attached to it's navel) will come off by itself. Do not remove it or pull on it as it can cause the navel to bleed and an open navel can get infected easily.

What if the other chicks are pecking at it?

 

[Coops Dad]

Still leave it alone.