Baby chick disease?......

[DementedHam]

What does it mean when someone says "My chick hatched with the yolks still attached"? How/Why does this happen. Is it deadly? How do you cure it?

Sorry for the excessive questions but I've read this various times and I don't understand.

 

[silkiechicken]

That means that the chick hatched too early and they didn't asorb the yolk completely. This can be due to too high of temps during incubation or too low and a slow hatch. It is a developmental thing and not a disease. It's only deadly to the chick if it cannot asorb the last of the yolk post hatch or if it's insides get picked out by another chick when they see it. The only cure is time and isolation of the chick so it can't tear open the protruding yolk sac. Some try to push it in, I just give them time if it's not too bad.

 

[DementedHam]

Thank you for the reply. Still..... "if it cannot asorb the last of the yolk"

so if it is not done eating his food he'll die?

 

[eggchel]

Ham, The yolk is attached to the abdomen of the chick via an umbilical cord and is the source of nourishment during incubation. Just before hatching, the chick absorbs the last of the yolk, through the umbilical, into its belly. The yolk, after it is absorbed, is what sustains the chick for the first few days. Sometimes the chick doesnt absorb all of the yolk and will hatch with a "bubble" of yolk protruding from its belly at the umbilical. If separated and kept quiet, it may absorb the rest within a day or so. The problems arise when other chicks peck at the yolk outside the belly and rupture it, which can lead to further evisceration by other chicks (causing death), or when bacteria gets in leading to infection (causing death).

chel