No one answered me about strange bottom...

[sudolph]

...but I figured it out, I think. It must be the yolk sac which did not absorb into the body entirely. The chick acts fine, maybe a little less hardy than the early hatchers, with a rather ugly looking umbilical cord. If anyone has an idea about whether or not this will dry up and fall off like a baby's, let me know. Regardless, all I can do is let nature take its course.

Thanks.

 

[dlhunicorn]

yes it will... you can also look thru the posts here:
http://p072.ezboard.com/fbackyardchickensfrm6

 

[MandyH]

sudolph, I am currently having the same problem with some chicks I am hatching. It's called a rough navel. It's cause is too high hatching humidity, wrong incubation temps, or too low incubation humidity. Go figure, everything that can go wrong with a hatch is associated with one of the 3 of these things. I had 2 chicks that had BAD rough navels. I put a gob of antibiotic ointment all over it so it wouldn't be rubbing on everything and put them in with the others and they had absorbed really well and pretty much gone away by the next morning. I do not know what issues if any they will have when grown as a result of this though. I will keep you posted if I learn anything new about it. I also don't know what to do to prevent it next time??!! Hope this helps!

Mandy

Well today my chick with the marble size protrusion passed on to the great nest in the sky. It has been fine for 3 days and then just laid down never to return.