Help! Chick not breaking white membrane

[Rcaldwell]

Hi, First timer here!
I am currently on day 21 of hatching pekin bantams, 1 pipped 20 hours ago but seems to be really struggling to break through the white membrane. The shell is coming off but the membrane is still in tact.
I am resisting the urge to help... Is this the right thing to do or should I dampen the area to help it?

 

[jsr5]

I am so sorry nobody caught this when you could still be helped. I hope the little guys and gals did ok. I would have suggested to hold off a few hours but most likely you would have to assist by carefully tearing at the membrane and stopping emmediately if you hit any blood at all then drape with a wet paper towel and wait 8 hiours or so. I know this all too late to help Sorry. This is a really good site and a wealth of info is here. There is alot of good info stickied at the top of several topics with a ton of info I wish I had read before I had gotten chickens lots of things would have went smoother.

 

[Isaac 0]

A wet towel in contact with eggs will chill them way too much, best to dab coconut oil, mineral oil, or Neosporin on the membrane to keep it moist. Syptic powder works great for stopping bleeding veins.