hey guys I'm new to this forum and just have a few questions (er.... well 1) so i'm hatching calafornia/valley quail eggs. 1 hatched , 1 hasn't pipped (cracked?) but it does sometimes peep when it hears the other the last one was the first one to open up ( small hole) and now it's a crack about 1/2 - 3/4 around the egg. It's taken 2-3 days to get like this but now it's not moving as much or trying to get out! i can see it's little body with feathers so it's ready to fully hatch but i was wondering if I could help it by pulling the egg apart???? it's been the same size crack for about a day and i don't know if it's still alive????? i want bubbles (hatched one) to have a companion even if there is another egg. If i can help it do i put a damp paper towel to prevent shrink wrapping ( forget actual name but read about it somewhere)? they've been in the bator about 22-23 (?) days (they were rescued mom abandoned nest, raccoons got eggs etc.) Please help and soon
I dont know anything about quail so take any advice from me with a grain of salt- but if you do need to intervene, only do so if there is no blood visible in/on the membrane. If you suspect that it is shrink wrapping, take a damp cloth and wrap it around the egg, exposing the place where the beak is so it can breathe. If you must help more, take tweezers and carefully, remove *tiny* bits of shell/membrane. But that will mean taking it out of the bator, so I think wrapping it in the cloth and leaving it for a few more hours is preferable. ETA: If you have one that is peeping in its shell, but hasnt pipped, Im not sure there's anything you can do. I'll be that someone with more experience will hop on here and give you some better advice. Good luck
