Hatching quail egg dripping brown stuff

[juci]

It’s day 17 for my quail eggs and this egg is the first one to start unzipping. But the edges of the egg look like they’re caked with brown sticky stuff. on the side where the beak is emerging, the brown stuff is actually dripping out of the egg.

I’ve hatched 2 other batches of quail eggs in a LG incubator and can’t recall ever seeing this.

I’m using a NR 360 for the first time. Brand new! A separate thermometer/hydrometer reads at 100 degrees and 62 humidity. The chick is still chirping inside the egg and trying to break out.
Any insight anyone has is greatly appreciated! The photos are the same egg from different angles.

 

[juci]

Update: 3 healthy chicks hatched last night! But not the drippy egg. That one is still the same as it was when I took these photos last night. I have a feeling something is really wrong with it, especially since the others don’t seem to have the same problem and came out of clean egg shells.
If it’s some kind of disease or infection I really hope it doesn’t spread it to the other chicks. I’m debating whether to open the incubator and get them out, but worried about humidity dropping.

Any advice?

 

[FoodFreedomNow]

If it were my hatch, I'd quickly take that egg out and examine it. It's possible that there was too much residual moisture left in the egg when it began to hatch and that's what you're seeing dripping out. If that's the case, the chick may be in trouble.

Best of luck and congratulations on your hatchlings!

 

[juci]

If it were my hatch, I'd quickly take that egg out and examine it. It's possible that there was too much residual moisture left in the egg when it began to hatch and that's what you're seeing dripping out. If that's the case, the chick may be in trouble.

Best of luck and congratulations on your hatchlings!

Thank you!
I think I will take it out at this point and see what’s going on. It still hasn’t changed at all and it was almost completely unzipped.

 

[juci]

If it were my hatch, I'd quickly take that egg out and examine it. It's possible that there was too much residual moisture left in the egg when it began to hatch and that's what you're seeing dripping out. If that's the case, the chick may be in trouble.

You were right, the chick wasn’t developed properly. I assisted it the rest of the way out of the shell, it was completely unzipped on its own and pretty badly shrink wrapped. It died a few minutes later. It sort of looked like it had some of its innards formed outside its body. But I’m glad to know that i did everythingI could for it.

All the other chicks are doing great! And hatching really easily on their own.

 

[FoodFreedomNow]

It's a shame that the little one didn't make it.

Did you see what the source of the moisture was? I ask because I use that kind of information to guide adjustments to humidity, if needed.

 

[juci]

It's a shame that the little one didn't make it.

Did you see what the source of the moisture was? I ask because I use that kind of information to guide adjustments to humidity, if needed.

It seemed to be just around the chick inside the egg. Where I live is very humid, so I struggle with controlling humidity. I’ve been trying to do dry hatches and only adding water at lockdown.

Thank you for your advice and insight! I’m hoping to figure out the perfect humidity levels for my area.

 

[FoodFreedomNow]

I'm also in an area that's pretty humid for much of the year (especially now, ugh), so I usually do the same.

You're most welcome. Best wishes for perfecting your approach!