Weak Chick Born Early, Broody Crushed Egg

[puglady]

We have a RI Red broody that was sitting on a bunch of eggs in the nesting box. It was about that time and my son went out to move her to the broody boxes we have built. When he was collecting her eggs he noticed one was crushed with 1/2 of the shell ripped off and the the other half in crushed pieces. The chick was gooey bloody and the yolk drying on him/her. I fired up my brooder incubator, removed the rest of the shell as it was drying and quickly tried to wipe her with warm water to get some of the goo off. Her cord still was leaking a bit but eventually dried. I wiped her down several times to try to get most of the unabsorbed yolk off. It has been a whole day and she is still living. This morning I mixed some sugar water up for her and am feeding her a couple of drops every 1/2 hr or so. She has not tried to get up but is peeping and wiggling. I'm hoping she can be saved but also wonder if I'm putting off the inevitabe. Any suggestions to help her would be appreciated. Anyone have experience with this and have them survive?
We had put mama in the broody box with the other eggs but took them away from her when we found another egg which was hatching that she was pecking. The egg was bleeding so we put them all in the hatcher. When the chick was born we gave her the chick and she seems to be doing wonderfully with them once they are here....

 

[puglady]

Bump, no one? Please? I'm trying to save him/her if I possibly can.....

 

[mynamesjenelle]

I've never hatched chicks but I found this on another forum for someone talking about a chick with a bloody umbilical cord:

"Clean affected area with iodine to try and dry up the wet mushy abdominal area

This will have to be done several times a day
Start the bird on multi vitamins in the drinking water, weak solution, make up fresh every day
Make sure the chick crumbles are fresh, stale chick food is really bad for the chicks

Keep the area they are in at the right temperature
Keep the infected bird away from other birds as they will peck at its naval and may make the condition worse or pull the intestines out

Put a fluffy toy into the brooder to help keep this little chick company and warm

Keep the brooder very very clean"


You might also want to check this out: http://www.chickencrossing.org/forum/viewtopic.php?id=9393

Basically you want to give them vitamins and clean the little one's navel with iodine to prevent infection. Good luck!

 

[Nicole01]

I wish you the best of luck! My broody 3 days ago ate a live chick looking for the pipping one. She hatched one out early, but amazingly the chick lived. It has a big gash on its back too. The umbilical cord was full of blood and the chick did not soak any of the yolk. I'm amazed it lived! I took all the eggs away and put them in the homemade incubator to hatch the rest. One is about to pip today or tomorrow. The other two are even a little more behind, but my homemade incubator isn't as nice as the broody.

I gave my chick vitamins in the water and probiotics in the food. The one that hatched early has pasty butt, but I'm able to clean it well. The probiotics are helping with that.

My broody is still in the nest box. I have to take her out 3-4 times a day to drink and stretch her legs and make sure the rest of the flock doesn't get her. I hope I don't have to rehome her.

I hope your chick pulls through! I gave mine wet mash the first day and I had to show them where their food dish was and where to drink. Today is day 3 and they are pooping like crazy. This is my very first hatch. I wish I could help you. Maybe give you some hope. The egg she opened up had about 2-3 days to go I guess.

 

[puglady]

Thanks so much for the reply. I truly appreciate it and I'll definitly check out the links. The cord is now dry however the bird is too weak to eat anything. I've done sugar water by dropper but do have chick electrolites I can mix up as well. I'l try that next. S/he was chirping and I now am laying down with her just under the neck of my shirt and have a blanket over us. She's quited down and seems to like the contact.

 

[mynamesjenelle]

S/he was chirping and I now am laying down with her just under the neck of my shirt and have a blanket over us. She's quited down and seems to like the contact.

That's the cutest thing I've ever heard

I hope she starts perking up!