Help! Quail was stuck in egg for 10+ hours so I helped it out and now I'm worried.

[katie_94]

Disclaimer: this is my first time raising and hatching quails.

Last night around 7-8 pm (day 17 of lockdown), one of our eggs in the incubator was zipping and I could see its beak. I then went to bed believing it would get itself out eventually. Fast forward to 1pm the next day, I noticed it was still in its shell and peeping and I had to wait until 2:30pm for my brother to help me lift the incubator lid (there were two others that literally just hatched so i didn't want take too long doing myself exposing them to a change in temp and humidity) so I could quickly but gently help it out. I got the poor thing out of its shell but it looks to be stuck in the position it was while it was inside the egg. It's fumbling around a lot and idk what to do! Will it straighten out eventually? Will this be a case of wry neck that I've heard about? Did I make the mistake of leaving it in its shell for too long? The inside is dry/empty so I can assume it absorbed all of the yolk. Sorry, I'm so worried.

Apparently, the power went out during the night and my brother didn't let me know so it could be the reason why I saw the humidity dip to 56 when I woke up around 9 am.

I'm using a Nurture Right 360. I keep the temp at 99.5 and humidity mostly at 65-70 but sometimes fluctuates to 73. We live in FL.

 

[katie_94]

updated: Whew. So I checked it again and looks like its neck and body straightened out but the poor thing is still struggling. Toes are curled and might have splayed leg? If yes, should i wait until the recommended 24 hours to handle it to fix those?

 

[PippinTheChicken]

What was your humidity?

 

[katie_94]

What was your humidity?

It was 70 last night before I went to bed and 56 when I woke up around 9 am the next day (today) which I quickly adjusted back to 70-71. It's 73 right now.

 

[PippinTheChicken]

I'm thinking it was a bit too high. Curled toes are caused by high humidity.
I don't own quails but I think humidity during lockdown should be 60%-65%

 

[PippinTheChicken]

Best of luck to the little one!

 

[Nabiki]

I was going to tell you to give it some time and it would probably straighten out, but it seems you found that out for yourself.

Your humidity is high for coturnix quail. You should get it down to about 50-60% for hatching.

 

[katie_94]

i've read that 65-70% was ideal for lockdown is why it was that high. We also live in FL so that might contribute to the humidity. Not all the eggs have hatched (only 5 out of 40 so far) and it's day 3 of lockdown (incubation was 15 days). I've tried lowering the humidity by getting rid of the water in the wells but no luck. I've also tried "burping" the incubator by lifting the lid a bit (while making sure no one was piping/zipping to avoid shrink wrapping" but also no luck.

 

[Lizzy733]

Give it some time. Chicks that get stuck can completely wreak their muscles. If he was malposition and couldn't turn, he may take a few days to come right. Judge him by his energy once he's had a chance to fluff up.

I had one sticky malposition chick in my hatch yesterday and, aside from the sticky head feathers, you wouldn't be able to tell today.

One foot looked as though it were going to be club (the one that was over it's head), but shows no signs of it now.

 

[katie_94]

Give it some time. Chicks that get stuck can completely wreak their muscles. If he was malposition and couldn't turn, he may take a few days to come right. Judge him by his energy once he's had a chance to fluff up.

I had one sticky malposition chick in my hatch yesterday and, aside from the sticky head feathers, you wouldn't be able to tell today.

One foot looked as though it were going to be club (the one that was over it's head), but shows no signs of it now.

I see, thank you. Also, how late would be too late to wait out seeing if the feet go back to normal?