ok this is not for me but a friend she ended up helping a chick hatch part way and the membrane has dried out and she says its not moving or anything anymore but she says she thinks she can still feel a heart beat. from what i've read once the member dries out it turns almost to like rubber and thechick can't get through itself. should she finish helping it so it may survive or just leave it ????
Tell her to wrap it in a wet washcloth or papertowel to moisten the membrane, then she can help it if need be.
I do mostly Quail and when this happens I go ahead and completely remove it, exspecialy if it's near the end of the hatch, they are usually 50-50 that it makes it. Some people when the hatch starts will do a lite mist with warm water on the eggs.
How long has it been from the time the chick pipped to your friend being concerned for its life? If it's really dried into it's membrane, but it actually pipped it's own breathing hole through, you can help it out. Just go very slow and gentle. Make sure that the membrane is moist enough to remove without tugging at the baby. Be careful of its umbilical cord...if it hasn't finished developing, it could still be absorbing its yolk sac. I've helped a couple distressed babies hatch. They turned out just fine. One I got to concerned about and jumped the gun... it had pipped the shell, but not broken the membrane on its own. I ended up breaking the membrane for it, and it died in seconds. Just take care, and know that whatever happens you did your best! If you make a mistake, learn from it. Good Luck!!!
Yikes... scary... I didn't help a chick once, and it died, pipped, but no cigar. Then I did help a chick, and I freaked that I did something wrong, as it was my first time trying. I think it was shrink wrapped. Fortunately it survived. I'm not sure what I'll do next time.
As long as it is pipped it should be OK. Wrap around egg a wet paper towel and don't obscure the air hole or around the shell too much so zipping can occur. You can introduce some sterile saline or water with a damp q tip, just be aware of the position of the chicks head so you don't cause drowning. You can also lightly mist the egg every few hours. Egg should still be in incubator of course. If the egg is not pipped, I suggest that artificially pipping the egg high on the eggshell will help (you can do this with a small blunt object, I use small forceps), then follow instructions above to keep the membrane moist. GOODLUCK!!!
