What is it?!

[rookiechk]

So I've been reading up quite a bit on my new baby girls, and with all the posts about Pasty Butt I decided to have a look at my chickies, and wipe off any dried poop around the area. While I was doing this I noticed that all of them had a small, black hard thing sticking out beneath their vent. What is this? I'll try and get pictures tomorrow. I wanted to let them rest. They weren't too happy about the butt wiping. :

 

[Cotton42]

It's probably the chick's umbilical cord. Don't try to remove it, you could kill the chick. Just leave it alone and it will fall off on its own in a few days.

 

[rookiechk]

It's probably the chick's umbilical cord. Don't try to remove it, you could kill the chick. Just leave it alone and it will fall off on its own in a few days.

I didn't mess with it. The chicks all seem happy and healthy. Since they all had it I figured it was supposed to be there.