Inner membrane is tan and dry!

SilkieBoxer

In the Brooder
Apr 2, 2021
11
17
28
Hi. I have a chick that's pipped the egg but 24 hours later he's still in there. It doesn't seem like he's been pipping more but he's still alive. The inner membrane of the egg has also turned tan and dry.

What should I do??
 
This is from an article it might help:

If it's been 18 to 24 hours since the chick externally pipped or you made a safety hole and there has been no more progress, it's time to start to assist in earnest. Ducklings and goslings take a really long time sometimes from the time of external pip to the zip. You may want to allow them 24 to 36 hours before you start an assist.
Using the external pip or the safety hole you made as a starting point, start to chip away the shell over the air cell. ONLY chip away shell that's over the air cell. There will be no veins here so it's safe to take the shell off. Elsewhere will cause bleeding and possibly death if the chick has not finished absorbing the blood and yolk. If at any point you hit blood during this procedure, stop, apply gentle pressure with a dry paper towel to the bleeding area until it stops, and then take a break for an hour or two and come back later. If you stay over the air cell, though, you should not hit blood.
Once you have the air cell chipped away apply your coconut oil to the internal membrane surrounding the chick. This will both keep things moist and allow you to see whether the veins have receded and the blood has been absorbed. Below is a picture of a chick that has had coconut oil applied to its membrane that has active veins and is clearly not ready to come out of the egg yet.
Veins still present.jpg

That chick needs more time to finish absorbing things. If you see active veins like this, put the egg back in the incubator and let it be for several hours so it can continue to absorb. After awhile, the veins will recede as the chick absorbs the blood and yolk. The egg below shows an internal membrane with no veins, meaning it is closer to being ready.
Ready to Go.jpg
However, it might still be absorbing the yolk, so don't go yanking it out yet. If the chick is making yawning or eating motions, it's still absorbing the yolk. Leave it alone for now. Ducklings especially take a long time to absorb everything. If your duckling is yawning or chewing, let it be, it's not ready.

Getting the Chick Out of the Egg
So, the membrane is no longer showing active veins, your chick is not yawning or chewing, and it seems like it's time to get it out of the egg. Here's the good news: you might not have to do anything at all. Most chicks, as long as they are not shrinkwrapped, can push themselves right out of the hole you made in the top of the egg on their own. They probably don't need your help to get out.
But if the baby is stuck and can't get out, you'll know it's ready because it will be really pushing against the membrane, moving its beak like it's trying to strike the shell, and a lot of times they will cry and carry on. A baby doing that is ready. You can carefully peel the membrane away from it and widen the hole in the egg past where the air cell was if that's necessary. The chick will likely push itself right out at this point. If not, carefully free its head and use a flashlight to look down into the shell. If the yolk is gone, let it get itself the rest of the way out. If there's still yolk left and it was a little too early, see the next section.
 
Update: The chick keeps trying to break free from the membrane but the membrane is attached to him. Any advice??
How long has it been from the first external pip? And carefully put coconut oil or Vaseline on any exposed membrane. This will help some but it sounds like they need more assistance and I’m not sure how to proceed with that and I don’t want to accidentally give bad advice.
 

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