Help - can anyone ID this wound on new chick?

[jessmorris]

[IMG][/IMG][IMG][/IMG]

http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...uckoo-2897.jpg

Hello there,
I checked my newbies this morning and while cleaning the backside of one noticed a big scab below the vent. Is this where the umbilical cord is attached? (is it called that on poultry?). Its like a small black knob, looks like dried blood. Doesn't seem to worry the chick which is a very small and slightly weak one. I have attached pics above. The vent area is wet because I've just cleaned the chick up. Any comments/help welcome. Am I supposed to do anything with it? By the way I checked the next smallest chick and it also had one of these, but smaller. The biggest chick didn't have one that I could see. They're not a great batch as chicks go, not their fault but they are wildly different sizes and two look quite weak...poor little things (ebay).
thanks,
JM

[RichmondHens]

It looks like the last bit of abdominal contents that weren't absorbed pre-hatch. It may cause no problem and just drop off when the skin completely heals. Let it come off by itself and DO NOT TRY AND REMOVE IT, you could damage the chick. Is the chick eating and drinking ok? Why are you having to clean their bums? Healthy chicks should be nice and clean and not need any bum wiping. Messy bums in chicks this small could be E Coli infection.

Hate to say it but it does sound like you have a bad batch, probably due to unhealthy parent stock (unfortunately one of the many problems using e bay eggs - you cannot see the parent birds to see what conditions they are kept in and how healthy or otherwise they are).

[jessmorris]

Thanks RH though this doesn't sound good. The chicks vent was blocked with dung in a hard mass so I had to soften it to get it off. I didn't try to remove this scab. The chick is the last to eat, very small compared to the healthier chicks, and slightly wobbly on its legs. It would rather be warmed up in ma's feathers than running about pecking at crumbs with the others. There is another chick slightly bigger than this one (same clour) , and three much bigger chicks (two other colours). Should I give it a chance, will it catch up?
I tried to get eggs elsewhere (even here!) but didn't have much luck so used Ebay for this batch. They aren't what I thought I had bought anyway, which is another matter.
Thanks for the advice.
Yours despondently,
JM

[petal]

What breed is it out of curiosity?

[MaureenHall]

I've had this with a couple of hatchlings. 1 was really wonky too with splayed legs so it was pts. The other is now a beautiful young hen, you wouldn't know anything had ever been wrong with her It's a case of "wait and see" I think.

Strangely enough, they were both from Ebay sellers too! I wonder if the transporting through the post has anything to do with it? None of the eggs from my own hens that I've hatched have ever had any problems (so far )

[Nicos]

My female Marans had exactly that- and she's fine now!
....you just need to make sure the other chicks/birds don't peck at it.
Take a few weeks to be totally gone.

[petal]

However, you are told by experts not to use such chicks for breeding as hatching problems can be hereditary. I leg ring those that had a dodgy start, so I know they are not for breeding stock.
We have had no problems whatsoever with our chicks that hatched this year, if anyone wants some of our eggs and can send me some of theirs in return, I can send you a mixed box to try, lets see if its postage that really does this, as an experiment? I have light sussex, buff orpington, pekin and silkie and brahma/orpington cross eggs available.

[di]

One of our last lot had this also...I was really worried the others would pick at it but they left alone and he or she is now doing great...a cross between Legbar and Buff Orpington and impossible to sex

The first lot of chicks we hatched used to get dirty bums and I was cleaning them daily...if it dries on and gets clogged up the chick can die so keep up with the cleaning.I read then that if you give them finely chopped Dandelion leaves with the chick crumb it prevents it...I've done this since and not had to clean a chick bum

[Nicos]

However, you are told by experts not to use such chicks for breeding as hatching problems can be hereditary. I leg ring those that had a dodgy start, so I know they are not for breeding stock.
We have had no problems whatsoever with our chicks that hatched this year, if anyone wants some of our eggs and can send me some of theirs in return, I can send you a mixed box to try, lets see if its postage that really does this, as an experiment? I have light sussex, buff orpington, pekin and silkie and brahma/orpington cross eggs available.

Good idea about the leg bands!

My Marans is the only female which will be laying brown eggs- so I know not to let those hatch

I bought my eggs from a farm - sold as eggs for eating. Freshly laid and loveingly transported by me in the car.

They were hatched by 2 moms- the one with the hernia was from a batch of two- she had a hernia, and the other had spraddle leg ( sorted) and eventually a twisted beak( not sorted). He is for the pot anyway...

BUT..they were the clutch which were sat on, abandoned, sat on abandoned and sat on again on and off for a week. I didn't think they'd even hatch after that sort of start. They eventually hatched a week later than their siblings in the other clutch. All of them were fine!

I know twsty beak is genetic but no idea whether the spraddle leg and hernia are.

[Glutton4...]

...My Marans is the only female which will be laying brown eggs- so I know not to let those hatch ...

Don't count your Chickens, an' all that!

I have one Cuckoo and two Copper Marans, one Copper lays chocolate coloured eggs. The others are no darker than my Batties' eggs! The sheen of the shell is different, but they are certainly no darker, and I'm the only one that can tell them apart. Sometimes.

[RichmondHens]

When you can tell the eggs apart you know you are moving into anorak territory .......... I'm sorry to say I can tell virtually all of mine apart (among the large fowl - the bantams are a little trickier) and I keep a daily laying record so I can look back and see who has been performing well or otherwise over the course of the year. Sad or what?

[Nicos]

and I'm the only one that can tell them apart. Sometimes.

Ha!...well as she's about 6x the size of my smallest banties, I'd at least expect a bigger egg!

[jessmorris]

What breed is it out of curiosity?

I bid on 6 cuckoo barbu d'uccle bantams (belgian booted bantams with beards), but really until they are grown, who knows?!

[jessmorris]

Thanks for all the interesting posts, people. I'm going to try the dandelion leaf thing. I've been giving them some chopped egg with their crumbs to boost them and ma a bit as she's quite pale combwise................

[jessmorris]

..have tried chopped dandelion leaves with mash and they love it! Especially ma, and no pasted chick bums either - thanks Andi&Di! I'm putting them on grass and paving this weekend, they're a week old now and Audrey is desparate to get out and have a stretch! It may be kill or cure for Gulliver the wee one, we'll see.
Thanks for all advice, will post pics soon as they're gettin' their feathers and gettin' quite pretty.