**Graphic picture** What causes this in a hatched chick

There was lots and lots of peeping earlier today from a chick that had been slow getting out. I went to pull him out of the bator and found him just as you see him in the picture below. He had a large water sack on one side that lacked feathering and appeared to be under the skin, his leg joint is up where his wing should be and his wing joined at the base of his neck. He was bright and alert, but I put him down, I can't imagine he would have been able to walk and I was concerned about that water bag. The bloody navel I've seen before and wasn't overly worried about it.

Is there anything in particular that causes this, or is this just one of those things? I did a terrible job rotating eggs for the hatch he was in, and some of the eggs may have been partially frozen when set into the bator -- could either of those have caused the troubles?

Thanks.

There is a very good paper on Hatchability Problems from The University of Florida.
http://ufdc.ufl.edu/UF00008570/00001

#16 - Sign: Malformations, Causes: Might interest you.
They list 9 different possibilities.

Of course, to pin point the exact cause may be difficult unless you keep hatching records. I would say that if the majority of your hatch was okay with no issues, then I would just say this poor little fellow was, sadly, not meant to be.

toybarons wrote:There is a very good paper on Hatchability Problems from The University of Florida.
http://ufdc.ufl.edu/UF00008570/00001

#16 - Sign: Malformations, Causes: Might interest you.
They list 9 different possibilities.

Of course, to pin point the exact cause may be difficult unless you keep hatching records. I would say that if the majority of your hatch was okay with no issues, then I would just say this poor little fellow was, sadly, not meant to be.

Thats really an interesting paper. The person I borrow thing incubator from has had the bloody navel problem as well, so I'll check temperatures.

Thanks for sharing.

Good link Toybaron, I look forward to getting a chance to read it!