Argh! Are the rest shrink wrapped too?

[alpinewelsummer]

So, I have 8 hatched quail (yay!), but they were knocking around the unhatched eggs a LOT, so I followed the advice I was given and removed each chick after watching each one nearly scramble its poor siblings.

But now I believe I have a shrink wrapped chick. She pipped externally and is breathing but her membrane is very white and opaque--I did assist just a bit and I'm waiting an hour or two to see what she does.

I really REALLY didn't want to open that incubator, but I was advised here to not let the eggs get rolled around. I guess the repeated openings built up and dried her out. I feel so awful.

There's two more eggs that haven't pipped externally yet. I planned to let them sit a few more days and see what happens, but now I'm terrified that they're dried out too. What should I do?

Thank you for any advice.

EDIT: I did add more water and wet paper towels each time, so the humidity always went back up quickly, I believe it was just going through that process 8 times that built up to the issue.

 

[Sammi_0411]

Just so u knoe i personally have no issues hatched quail always gona knock the eggs about most time it encourages them to hatch so i wouldnt panic on that note. Xx

 

[Kiki]

Oh no. Could you explain what I did wrong? I followed the advice of holding with a warm wet wash cloth, gently breaking the shell with tweezers. Did I make too much of a "window" shape rather than "zipping", or do you just not recommended that assist method at all?

To be clear, I didn't mess with the membrane at all, just the outer shell.

Adding wet water to an egg is never a good idea... It actually can dry the egg out more.

What I was meaning is you should never help unless you're going to follow through and take the chick out of the egg.
You're not actually helping by just making a hole larger.

You've already opened the incubator enough that by opening it another time is not going to do any more damage.
Get a close look and see if the chick is moving.

 

[alpinewelsummer]

Adding wet water to an egg is never a good idea... It actually can dry the egg out more.

What I was meaning is you should never help unless you're going to follow through and take the chick out of the egg.
You're not actually helping by just making a hole larger.

You've already opened the incubator enough that by opening it another time is not going to do any more damage.
Get a close look and see if the chick is moving.

Oof. I'm so sorry. I'm getting so much conflicting info and the other threads I read here recommended the wet wash cloth. I'll keep this in mind in the future.

She isn't wiggling but she's DEFINITELY breathing. I can see the membrane over her moving up and down with each breath.

You're welcome. You've been given good advice. If you haven't already, I recommend reading this Guide to Assisted Hatching.

Can you see veins in the moistened membrane?

Thank you for the guide! I wish I'd known not to use water originally. I do believe I see a bit of red, which is part of the reason I stopped there and didn't go further.

 

[Yardmom]

Up the humidity if it has not come back on its own. If you need to soften membrane use vegetable oil (not water). If you have to open again find a way to create more humidity. I use a shower, some mist the air.

 

[Ruby Rogue]

What day if incubation are you on?

Can you attach pics of what you believe to be the shrink wrapped egg/chick?

 

[alpinewelsummer]

Just so u knoe i personally have no issues hatched quail always gona knock the eggs about most time it encourages them to hatch so i wouldnt panic on that note. Xx

That's super relieving to know in the future, thank you! I kept getting conflicting responses on that, haha.

 

[alpinewelsummer]

Also, a dry membrane is not the same as shrink wrapped.

True! I was only worried because she made no progress in her struggle after 24 hours, and the membrane kept stretching around her beak in a rubbery way instead of breaking further--alongside being opaque white.

Thank you for being here to help!

 

[Ruby Rogue]

True! I was only worried because she made no progress in her struggle after 24 hours, and the membrane kept stretching around her beak in a rubbery way instead of breaking further--alongside being opaque white.

Thank you for being here to help!

You're welcome. You've been given good advice. If you haven't already, I recommend reading this Guide to Assisted Hatching.

Can you see veins in the moistened membrane?

 

[alpinewelsummer]

Ah, she was dead as I went to take the picture. I'm so sorry lil one.

Well, lesson learned: I'll take knocked around eggs over killing one in a silly panic any day. I appreciate the knowledge for future reference anyhow, thank you both so much.