05/05/2026
When your hatch mates help to “bust” you out of your shell a bit too early — sometimes a little extra help is needed.
After being like this overnight with no change, I picked off part of the shell on the air sac side to get a better look, since I suspected he was struggling. He was starting to “shrink wrap,” which can happen more easily with dry hatching in situations like this.
So the next step was to remove as much shell as possible without tearing the inner membrane, then coat it lightly with coconut oil and let the chick continue. The goal is to allow them to keep absorbing the yolk while the membrane finishes its job.
When the chick is ready, it will push itself out — sometimes with no issues, other times the membrane has dried too much and sticks to them, making it harder to break free. This little guy needed a bit more help, as the latter had happened.
After that, I left him to rest until lunchtime today, because hatching is a lot of work — never mind in his situation.
Today he got a little “sponge bath” to help loosen the dried membrane, and hopefully by tomorrow morning he’ll be ready to join his hatch mates.
