How can you tell if a chick is shrinkwrapped? (HELP!!!)

[joneus]

I've got a chick who externally pipped last night but didnt do anything else until this morning. When I got up, the humidity had dropped from 72% to 65%, so I quickly put more water in with the hope that there was no harm done. Since then, I've had one hatch successfully. The one who pipped last night seems to be making slow... really.... really.... REALLY slow progress now. Its not zipping, but the hole is big enough that I can see in there and I *think* it looks like the membrane is wrapped around the chick.

What do I do? Should I bump the humidity (its at 75%) and hope for the best? Should I pull it out and check?? I'm not opposed to helping, but I dont want to make the situation (if there is one) worse.

 

[TinyChickenLady]

Your humidity sounds fine but if it's shrink wrapped, I don't think it can be reversed....

 

[stephanie1992]

what i do in thos times is slowly remove the shell around the pip area. and look for the beak, if its breathing and moving i put it back. never had a problem doin that. if the membrain looks dry drip water on it being carful not to get any on the chicks beak

 

[joneus]

Quote:
Thats pretty much what I did. I trimmed the shell back far enough to see what was going on. The membrane was drying out and starting to stick, so I dribbled some warm water in the space between the membrane and the shell with an eye dropper, loosely wrapped the egg in a damp paper towel and put him back in the incubator. 3 hours later, I have a very pretty little chick who seems to be doing just fine!

 

[cmom]

I have had chicks take over 24hrs from pip to hatch. One thing to check if they do take a long time is to make sure they are not stuck. I have had a couple that died after pipping and I didn't realize they were stuck. This was when I first started hatching. Many people have said do not help under any circumstances as they will die. I have since helped. I am careful and break the shell away from the area they would normally zip. I usually put a cloth and paper towel on a heating pad and have a dish of warm water and q-tip or with my fingertip to keep the membrane soften while breaking off the shell. After I have zipped the shell if the chick isn't stuck, put it back in the incubator to finish hatching. There are times when I have had to assist the chick hatch too but I try not to if I don't have to. Sometimes they die but sometimes they live.

 

[MysteryChicken]

Can a chick get shrink wrapped int their shell without a pip?