Chick with thick umbilical cord attached

[BroosterSpringsteen]

I have a chick that hatched 5 hours ago. It pipped at the wrong end, and struggled. There was a tiny bit of yolk sac left and the umbilical cord is still attached. It's thick, and I can see veins in it. I've read it will dry up on it's own? How long does this usually take? This chick is very weak, laying on it's side, but it is chirping a lot and kicking. It still hasn't opened it's eyes. Do chicks like this often survive?

 

[SamJacobbe]

You should make sure that the chick isn't around other hatching chicks, as they will peck at it and this could cause problems, like debowlment....

It takes a few hours for the rest of it to be absorbed, and it needs to be, as chicks are too weak on the first few days to eat or drink, and the yolk provides them with nourishment during that time.

I actually just recently hatched out six chicks, all like this. They are all still alive and doing fine, almost a week and a half later, and their momma is watching over them from the other chickens. Give her time and make sure that there it is warm, bust also moist so that the yolk doesn't dry up.

Hope I could help.

 

[BroosterSpringsteen]

You should make sure that the chick isn't around other hatching chicks, as they will peck at it and this could cause problems, like debowlment....

It takes a few hours for the rest of it to be absorbed, and it needs to be, as chicks are too weak on the first few days to eat or drink, and the yolk provides them with nourishment during that time.

I actually just recently hatched out six chicks, all like this. They are all still alive and doing fine, almost a week and a half later, and their momma is watching over them from the other chickens. Give her time and make sure that there it is warm, bust also moist so that the yolk doesn't dry up.

Hope I could help.

DEBOWLMENT? That sounds horrifying,

There's one other chick that hatched. It's not paying much attention to the weak one, but to be safe I draped a warm wet paper towel over it's belly. It's looking better. The rest of the yolk disappeared pretty quickly, and now the cord seems to be drying up slowly. The chick is still laying down on it's back, weak, but still chirping some, kicking both legs, and even occasionally opening it's eyes. I was planning to move the active chick to the brooder in the morning. Should I leave the weak one in the bator until it becomes stronger and the cord detaches? It's starting to fluff up.

Thanks for the help!

 

[SamJacobbe]

Yeah, never had it happen to me, but heard of it, and it sounds sad.

I would leave the baby in there still it's fully fluffed up. It should get stronger, as right now, it's just resting for awhile. Give it some time and it should get stronger and then you can move it.