Chick unzipped with cap off but still sitting in the shell

[MRquail]

Hi! My first snowflake bobwhite quail chick started hatching about 4 days ago. After three days and no progress, I began to slowly help the chick out, helping it to unzip out of the egg. After a few hours it had kicked the cap off but hasn't come out of the other half of the shell yet. It's sleeping soundly and doesn't appear to be in any kind of distress. Should I just leave it and let it come out on its own or should I help it out? It's starting to dry off inside the shell so I'm worried about the membrane hardening on it. It's been like this for about 5 hours now and I plan on checking on it in a few more hours to see if there's any more progress.Thanks!

 

[007Sean]

If it has absorbed its yolk sac, I would go ahead and remove it from the shell.
Taking that long to get out of the shell, I would also expect it to have crooked toes/legs.

 

[MRquail]

Thanks! After posting I went back about 2 hours later and it had gotten out by itself and was running around the incubator. It's legs did look a little funny in there but after it fluffed up and I moved it to the brooder box it was running around and they looked okay. It seems to be getting around just fine so if I do notice a crooked toe or something later on, will it be ok to keep with the other chicks as long as it doesn't have a problem walking?

 

[Ebony Rose]

Yes, and congratulations It takes a lot of energy between phases of internal pip, external pip, cap off & the rest of the shell off. It's not uncommon for the chick to doze off between these phases and again when all the hard work is done. Some of these naps can be up to 24 hours long.