3 day old chick died, any ideas why?

[2kidsn'chickens]

I harched out three babies this past weekend, two bantys and one wyandotte mix I believe. The wyandotte was the last to hatch of the three that did and the umbilicle cord was still attached! I freaked out a little but the chick seemed fine and the cord dried up but hadnt fallen off yet. She was absolutely fine, eating, drinking, scratching around, not acting any different from the other two at all. I took a nap with my kids and when I got up I checked in on them and she was kinda looking droopy and away from the other two. I picked her up and noticed some poop on her vent but it was a creamy almost orangy consistancy and color. I cleaned her up and while I was holding her she poo'd again so she wasnt blocked and if she was previously it was an hour and a half max, as I had just been holding/watching them before our nap. As I was holding her she was getting obviously weaker... I put her back in the brooder to keep her warm and she passed within a half hour.
I dont know if it normal or not but when I was cleaning her bum I noticed that her skin all around the umbilicle cord was purple, probably a thumb nail sized area..
The other two chicks are completely fine so I am at a loss as to what happened. No one is acting too cold or too hot, everyone is/was eating and drinking. I am thinking something just didnt develope right with this chick? Any thoughts would be welcome!
Sara

 

[firedove]

That purple area would lean me towards an infection that entered through the umbilical stub. I'm no expert though. Maybe someone else has a better idea.

 

[aberfitch]

some chicks just don't make it. survival of the fittest. i have chickes hatch out and die. some pip and die. sooooooo many reasons. too hard to guess.. she was just too weak to make it. once i hatched 3 and t died. honorable hatch!

 

[2kidsn'chickens]

Thanks firedove and aberfitch. An infection would make some sense.. good call. I was chalking it up to nature also. It just really stinks to put all that time and love into these eggs (not to mention money!!) and then half dont hatch and even if they do some might die! I enjoyed the experience but I'm not sure that I can subject myself to this over and over... I might stick to buying chicks after the rest of my eggs are hatched out. Thanks again.
Sara

 

[firedove]

Hi Sara

I just saw you are kinda local to me. Don't get too discouraged. What kind of bator do you use? I'm told some have better hatch rates than others. I'm trying to wrangle my parents into buying me a Lyon TX6 for my birthday (just 3 more days!). It only hatches 18 standard chicken eggs at a time but my friends and acquaintances that have them experience nearly 100% hatches with them. One friend recommended it first, and when I started asking around it sounds like it's a really good one. It's expensive with a capital E but you can find them used sometimes cheaper. It has a fan and a big water jug that you attach to the side that keeps the humidity just right. My friend told me you only have to fill the jug twice for the entire hatch time.

As for buying chicks, do you ever make it up to the chicken swaps in NH? We have some great ones, always packed with buyers and sellers of all types of poultry and livestock! Check the chickenstocks, swaps, and shows forum for the upcoming ones.

 

[cmom]

That's the way it goes sometimes and I guess it just isn't meant to be. It has happened to me too.