HELP! Unzipped peep but only through shell not membrane

[tjwaynne]

We have an actively hatching turkey poult. It pipped last night around 6pm. And this morning it has "unzipped" all the way around the egg, but only the egg shell has fallen away from the poult. The inner white membrane, which is now a tan color, is still intact almost the entire way around the egg. The poult does not seem to be able to get out...I can see "feathers" when it pushes to get out. Should I assist?

 

[tjwaynne]

Just to follow up...the poult was really struggling and protesting loudly. So we helped it out. Glad we did. The membrane was really tough to pull apart because of how dry it was. A healthy turkey was born...no blood, the yolk completely absorbed. Now it's safely back in the incubator to dry off and rest.

 

[Mvan42]

Great job..

Next time you can use coconut oil or non pain relief ointment, to moisten. That membrane

 

[tjwaynne]

Great job..

Next time you can use coconut oil or non pain relief ointment, to moisten. That membrane

I will make a note of this for next time. I tried to use some Bacitracin ointment to try to soften the membrane. I never thought about coconut oil. Thank you for the suggestion.