Assisted hatch chick with funky smell and verrryyy small rough navel :/

[ShayEsslin84]

It has just been a rough week for the hatching babies on our farm

I had a mom peck a hatching egg and ultimately kill it, a baby with wry neck, and NOW I have another problem...I've never had a time as stressful as this go round...So I had the "extra" broody hens eggs in the incubator for about a week, because they all had too many. Their hatches have all timed up so I've been able to sneak the babies back under them with no problem. But I had one baby taking way too long to hatch, his mates were already 3 days old... He had pipped, but not zipped after 24+ hours and he was malpositioned, starting from the middle ,so when I opened up the incubator to check him out, he was still alive, but pretty weird smelling, like a rotten egg. I had to peel off his shell, and just leave the membranes for him to hatch the rest of the way, which he did. However, it looks like his yolk may have ruptured a little? its all absorbed, but there is a very very small hernia in his navel that is healing as we speak. I put him in a cup with a warm towel back in the incubator so he can be calm and quiet, and he seems alright otherwise, he is much bigger than his hatchmates though. So folks, whats the deal? Why the funky smell and the rough navel on this guy?
P.S I know incorrect humidity would probably be the cause if he had been artificially incubated the whole time, but just is a week?

 

[abserbean]

There is a good chance the chick has a bacterial infection, especially with that smell. I know that some on here use an antibiotic for baby chicks that had a difficult hatch/issues with absorbing the yolk b/c the chance of infection is high. I don't know what kind of antibiotic they use, but I think you put it in water. Hopefully someone who has had to do this will chime in!

 

[ShayEsslin84]

I just went to check on him, and he wanted out of the cup, so I released him, and he was wobbling all around. His umbilical cord is still attached to the membrane, but his navel looks closed to me. No blood or anything like that...I have a couple antibiotics on hand you add to the water for chickens, but I would need some direction as to what to use on a chick this young...

 

[abserbean]

I haven't had to treat chicks my self, I was hoping that someone who had would chime in. I did some reading, and I found that you can put 1/2 ounce Duramycin -10 powder in a gallon of water, then let the chick drink as it normally would. You can also give Sulmet in the water, but I think that is more for cocci.

 

[ShayEsslin84]

Hes all fluffy and running around this morning..I have Duramycin, and he'll go back out with his momma tonight if all is still well, and I'll just put it in their waterer, so she can make him drink his medicine That's what moms are for right

 

[Lady of McCamley]

Glad he is strong and running around. That is a good sign he has survived the initial stress and hardy in nature.

I would get him on the Duramycin 10 or the Sulmet ASAP as you definitely had bacterial growth and an unhealed naval situation which can quickly escalate into "squishy chick" syndrome, aka omphalitis (infected naval) which is a number one killer of hatching chicks and chicks their first 3 days. I also put sick or stressed chicks on Chick Saver type vitamins and electrolytes. You can add it with the antibiotic in the water at the same time.

Sulmet is a sulfa drug so it is not as broad based as the tetracycline in the Duramycin 10. Sulmet is used to treat cocci bacterial infections but can be used for most gram negative bacteria. I like how it stays fresher in the water but it does not treat all bacteria whereas the tetracycline works on many types, so I used the tetracycline for a couple of days and then switched to the Sulmet with the tetracyline on hold should things go south. No matter what you use be sure to change the antibiotic water daily, making a fresh batch as the potency wanes in 24 hours....and again the tetracyline seems to look foul sooner.

I eye droppered my assisted hatchs every couple of hours until they were drinking on their own and able to drink it themselves. (Which they will do without assistance when they are strong enough). It is important they are very sturdy on their legs, drinking and eating on their own first.

I personally would not introduce until the naval looks completely closed and the stump has dried up and dropped as that is a further entry point for bacteria and the coop will be less clean than your brooder.

Also leave the chick on the meds for at least 7 full days. Latent infection rebounds so taking it off too soon can cause relapse. All the chicks and momma can be on the antibiotics until then. Afterwards, be sure to add ACV or some other probiotic into their water, or offer yogurt, to rebuild their guts after the antibiotic course. I do not have them also on medicated chick saver as the Amprolium starves the cocci from B vitamins and you already have them on antibiotics and Vitamin B in the Chick Saver...I personally think that is overkill and too much meds at the same time and likely counterproductive for the Amprolium, however I've not done the medical research to prove that. After about a week of being off the antibiotics I put them on the Amprolium based medicated chick starter if I am concerned about Cocci reinfection.

good luck.

Lady of McCamley

EDITED to add content

 

[ShayEsslin84]

Thank you very much! Everybody gets ACV in their water here, and since I milk my goats, they gets lots of fresh milk and yogurt as well...His navel appears to be closed, and the mommas and chicks all get their own individual stalls, and they are all freshly disinfected and bedded before they go in there. I have one mom in the coop with her 2 babies, but she refuses to move! I've moved her several times, and she always goes back to the coop door with the babies, so I finally gave in and let her in...no one seems to bother her or the babies, and they are going on 5 days old now The 5 hatchmates and my little fighter is in with are still in the incubator, but their momma is ready for them too. I like to get them out young, and shes been on the nest for 24 days now, so its time for her to get a break too!! So do you think he picked up the infection while still in the nest with mom? He is a VERY large chick so I wouldn't be terribly surprised if his humidity was too high somehow. He doesn't feel squishy though, and his funky smell is gone. Hes a little sleepy still, but no more than your average day old chick...

My little man, resting on my hand!!

 

[Lady of McCamley]

Very cute.

Good for you on your excellent husbandry and coop care.

I totally understand wanting to get the baby to mom asap as it is so important to take advantage of the imprint window. If he is strong and looks completely clear of any infection, with a completely closed and healed naval, then he should be safe to return to mom. Remember, you also don't want him spreading infection to the others if he is harboring any.

He picked up the infection because his shell was open too long, and broody hatching is never sterile (or somehow he picked it up in the incubator...I forgot where you hatched him). His naval didn't close right, which makes him very susceptible to internal infection...which frequently shows up right away, but often doesn't show itself for several days as an unthrifty chick. (Typical dead chick at day 2 or 3.)

Unless you put him in an absolutely sterile environment (and who has that on a chicken farm?), he would picked bacteria up in the air/environment around him as bacteria are everywhere. The raw naval area, plus the recently absorbed yolk, make the perfect breeding grounds for bacteria, so any rough looking naval, unhealed navals, slowly healing navals should have antibiotics as they are ripe for internal infection. The big commercial brooders sterilize their brooders to prevent squishy chick infections, but hen brooding is hardly sterile (unless you've convinced the hen to down surgical garb and scrub up before hatching and remove her poo in a sterile fashion).

I also can recommend squirting Chlorhexiderm on the naval area to help it dry and heal so that the little stump dries completely up and drops off, further ensuring the closure of the area. If you don't have that (most Vet places carry it), the pet stores carry Vetracin which is an over the counter anti-microbial. Even hydrogen peroxide dobbed with a Q-tip would help....that's assuming its naval is closed but still not dried and dropped. (If it is completely healed on the outside, dried and dropped, you don't need to apply anything topically.)

I'm glad he is doing well, though still sleepy. I would recommend continuing to watch. If he is well, he should brighten tomorrow. I still recommend the antibiotics as it would be a miracle if he didn't get some internal infection brewing from steeping in the stench with an open or raw naval area.

My thoughts
Lady of McCamley

 

[ShayEsslin84]

Thank you for all your help, he was a part broody- part incubator baby. And unfortunately he died this morning

I did get some duramycin 10 into him, as that is what I had on hand, but it must have been too late...Glad I kept him away from the other babies though. I did medicate their water as well, just to prevent any spread hopefully. I really dont like using the incubator, prefer to let mom do it if I don't just buy them and have a broody adopt them....but with 18 or so eggs under each girl, I felt like that was just too many...Incubator hatching is just too stressful to me. I feel like I spend the whole hatch period glued to the window timing everyone, and I always feel totally responsible when I loose one, although I know that Moms hatch rate isn't perfect either, she just seems to take it a little less personal that I do....

 

[Lady of McCamley]

I'm sorry for your loss.

Even with aggressive treatment it would have been an uphill battle.
LofMc