Wet looking but crusty feeling chick??

[Pippin quail]

I have 22 eggs in my Bator, today is day 20 for half and day 19 for the other half. Yesterday when I went to remove the egg turner and start lockdown I could already hear a little peeping! So I quickly did my stuff, raised humidity and removed the egg turner. Unfortunately in the night the power went out from midnight until 6:30 am. I covered the Bator in blankets and brought it into my livingroom where I kept a fire going much of the night. The incubator was only 25 degrees Celsius this morning (77 f) and I was so worried about my chicks all night. This morning the first little one who pipped actually went back to work once it warmed up again and hatched! But she looks wet still hours later..I actually put her in the brooder hoping she'd do better without the humidity, but it turns out she's not actually wet, she's crusty/sticky feeling. Is this because of the temp drop overnight?? Or hatching early? Is there anything I can do? She's very vocal but seems kind of weak. Any advice appreciated!

 

[Coops Dad]

It sounds more like she ruptured her yolk sac. Was it absent or intact when she hatched?

 

[Coops Dad]

I've had a few do that and, aside from being greasy looking, they did fine. You can dab her clean with 100* water and a sponge but make sure she stays warm. Use a blow dryer on low heat to dry her off after. And if it was a ruptured yolk sack, make sure she's eating and drinking. She has no energy reserves.

 

[Pippin quail]

I've had a few do that and, aside from being greasy looking, they did fine. You can dab her clean with 100* water and a sponge but make sure she stays warm. Use a blow dryer on low heat to dry her off after. And if it was a ruptured yolk sack, make sure she's eating and drinking. She has no energy reserves.

Well when I originally candled that egg there were definitely 2 chicks swimming around. Obviously the second one died quite small and this one survived. There was yolk left in the egg and i had assumed it was from the second chick... Maybe that got on her, whether it was hers or her twins? She's looking a bit better already and I dabbed her off with a warm damp cloth earlier. She's starting to fluff up a bit more, but still crusty in places. Thanks for the insight, hopefully she does ok. She's been pecking at food and had a bit of water off my finger tip, but I haven't seen her drink from the waterer (though I've dipped her beak a couple times and tapped it with my finger just so she hopefully knows where to go).

 

[Pippin quail]

Update: little Sunshine seems totally fine, apart from being lonely. She/he still has a bit of crusty feathers on the back, but is slowly preening where she can reach and I've helped a bit. Has the cutest little black dot on top of her head too. She hatched yesterday morning and I have yet to see any other chicks pipped (though I've heard a few faint peepings from in the incubator, I haven't seen an external pip). Today is day 21 for half and tomorrow will be day 21 for the other half. Hopefully some will hatch soon. Could their hatch be delayed because of the power outage a few nights ago?? And any tips to help my lonely chick in the meantime. I've been visiting her lots and gave her a mirror, but every time I leave the room there's loud cheeping.

 

[CandiceMol1988]

Hi there,

I have just had a chick hatch who from the sounds of it "looks and feels" the same way.
Poor baby had a hard hatch and I intervened when I saw her wing was "glued" to her head.
She is fully developed and getting stronger, I have slowly been keeping the parts where membrane/shell are stuck moist to help remove them she also had poop in the shell.

After my long story, did you just leave your sticky baby or did you need to wet her to fluffy out?

Last photo is about 1 hour after hatching
Walking wobbly and the wing is getting much stronger by the moment

 

[Debbie292d]

Hi there,

I have just had a chick hatch who from the sounds of it "looks and feels" the same way.
Poor baby had a hard hatch and I intervened when I saw her wing was "glued" to her head.
She is fully developed and getting stronger, I have slowly been keeping the parts where membrane/shell are stuck moist to help remove them she also had poop in the shell.

After my long story, did you just leave your sticky baby or did you need to wet her to fluffy out?

Last photo is about 1 hour after hatching
Walking wobbly and the wing is getting much stronger by the moment

You can either just leave it alone and in a day or two it will lose all that excess and start becoming fluffy.

Or, in extreme cases, I set a towel and a blow dryer on the bathroom counter. I run the water so it's warm but not too hot. I ran the chick under a slow stream and started picking the shells off gently. I wet a wash rag and gently glided it from head to tail. I checked its feet to make sure the toes weren't stuck together. This whole thing took less than a minute. After I was done, I put the chick in the towel to remove excess water, then put the blow dryer on low and blow-dried it dry. It will still have some egg remnants on it as it's nearly impossible to get that all off. It will come off naturally in a day or two.

 

[CandiceMol1988]

@Debbie292d
Would you recommend that I leave this baby in the incubator I am moving the other babies to the brooder box

 

[Debbie292d]

@Debbie292d
Would you recommend that I leave this baby in the incubator I am moving the other babies to the brooder box

I will always opt to put a weak chick back in the incubator. Sometimes what looks like splayed legs or curled toes magically goes away too.