Hatching Troubles

My first batch of chicks began hatching yesterday and are still hatching today. But this morning, I had two chicks out of the eggs but have what I guess is a blood vessel still connecting them to the egg. They have been walking around for 4 hrs now with the egg still dragging behind them. Should I cut the egg away or is there still danger of them bleeding out or being otherwise harmed? Any insight would be appreciated.

Keep the humidity up and just leave them be. There is a chance that they can bleed out so you are better off to wait. If it is still attached tomorrow, you can try cutting it at some point away from the chick but it should correct itself before then.

chad duncan wrote:Keep the humidity up and just leave them be. There is a chance that they can bleed out so you are better off to wait. If it is still attached tomorrow, you can try cutting it at some point away from the chick but it should correct itself before then.

I second this.

If whatever it is that is connecting them to the egg dries out, I would attempt to remove it. Sometimes the membrane sticks to them and acts like super glue. If it's dried, you can just cut the part connected to the egg off. A paper towel wet with warm water can help loosen what's left attached to the chick, although if it's not blocking their rear end or anything and the other chicks aren't picking at it, it will eventually fall off on it's own.

If it's the 'umbilical cord' that is attaching them to the egg, whenever they are dry, I would take a look at their bellies (I do this regardless). Sometimes their navels don't close all the way and leaves them open to infection. A dab of betadine will help prevent infection....

The experience I've had with it doesn't look promising, I've rarely if ever had one to survive. The problem is generally the humidity dropping in the incubator. While it isn't feasible for most backyard growers what we've done is to dedicate an equal number of incubators to hatching brooders, 3 days before our eggs are due to hatch we transfer the eggs to the brooder freshly filled with humidifiers and the eggs sorted into excluders for each breed. The exit best thing would be to be sure your humidifier is topped off and maybe add an extra when you stop the egg turner.

How did the chicks turn out?