EMERGENCY HATCH! HELP! (picture included)

[littlepip]

Help! One of my quail eggs made an external pip, but didn't make it through the membrane. I opened up the hole as you can see, and the chick was clearly straining to hatch, but the beak was nowhere in sight. there was no peeping either. she's clearly malpositioned! I NEED HELP!

 

[TheBrahmaBunch]

You can try to crack it open, but keep in mind that may lead to a weak bird later on.

 

[littlepip]

I did. about halfway. it bled a bit so I stopped. shes a fighter, and pushing really hard and rocking about.

 

[ChickNanny13]

Keep the membrane soft with oil/vaseline. It's good that you stopped when you had bleeding. Give it time for the blood to be absorbed. What is the hatching date? It's also possible (bleeding) the chicks not ready. Struggling is part of the hatch, we tend to get overly concerned when it takes too long.

 

[littlepip]

is water ok?

 

[littlepip]

I've been using a spray bottle to keep it moist.

 

[ChickNanny13]

Water will chill it & need to be remoisten, change the humidity & temp in the incubator.

 

[silkie1472]

I used to hatch Pharaoh quail, and hatched them by the hundreds. I found that by putting a wet sponge in the incubator after the first pip resulted in a better hatch.

Those look like button quail eggs...am I right?

 

[littlepip]

yup. tiny little things.

 

[littlepip]

I had to assist hatch late last night. she was badly stuck. she's been sitting in the incubator for 3 hours resting, then 4 hours kicking and wobbling around. her feathers aren't fluffed up since she has a bit of crispy goo on her from last night. I was so afraid she would die, I literally ran downstairs this morning to check her. I burned myself trying to get the incubator open since she was in the back, but WORTH IT!