So here's the deal. She still hasn't made any progress. She's moving around a lot and peeping, but can't seem to widen the crack or zip. There doesn't seem to be any blood around the membrane by the crack, so should I widen it for her? Or do I have to worry about her getting shrink wrapped? I'm obviously not planning to do anything till noon (almost 30 hours after she first pipped). Will it be okay to help then?
(Just saw you were linked to the article while I was writing this rather lengthy response, it's been very helpful to me, perhaps some of the below will still be helpful though).
Can you see her beak well? Chicks that aren't ready to come out yet will fairly frequently make yawning/chewing motions with their beak which means they are still finishing up absorbing yolk/blood vessels or both. Is she striking out with her beak very often and not also yawning/chewing? If so she may be about ready.
Usually when I have a chick that is having trouble turning to zip they will widen their pip and keep on striking out and often peep more insistently.
I've had lots of chicks hatch just fine from this position (the majority of them) but chances of them needing assistance does go up a bit when they hatch from the narrow end.
When I have little ones hatching in this position I often widen the pip just a bit (enough so I can easily monitor breathing and get a better view of the beak. You do have to be careful about blood vessels. I make sure to have some tissue/paper towels at hand in case I hit a blood vessel so I can quickly stop bleeding.
Once the little one is showing signs of being ready to come out but having trouble turning to zip I carefully start breaking a bit of shell the same way the chick would if it could turn to zip. If I misjudge and see there is any bleeding I quickly stop the bleeding and put the egg back in the incubator and give it some more time (while carefully watching to make sure the baby is doing alright).
You'll want to stay nearby if you can and check in often as the biggest danger would be the chick managing to turn in the shell but not breaking the shell thus losing access to air.
Usually when I have to assist this position everything turns out fine (even when I do happen to hit a blood vessel). It can be difficult knowing exactly when assistance is needed especially when you are new to assisting. If you are careful and go slowly and make sure to quickly stop any bleeding you'll likely have a positive outcome (though occasionally they just won't make it for whatever reason).
The few I've had who didn't make it in this position either had trouble switching from using their blood vessel network to using their lungs or turned in the egg away from the pip and suffocated themselves. Your baby already sounds like it's got a good handle on breathing so just watch out to make sure she doesn't turn herself away from the pip.
Good luck, I hope everything goes smoothly for the little one!
