Upside Down Chick!

[cuckleberry]

Hello!
We are on day 16 of incubating button quail eggs, and we thankfully see 5 chicks pipping! The problem is, one of them has pipped upside down, facing the tray of the incubator. This only happened a few hours ago. Early this morning, there was no external pipping with that egg. When I tap the plastic, I can see some of them moving around!
Will the chick be okay if it's face down? I don't want to lose it, but I also don't want to risk damaging the other ones. I've read through a few threads with mixed reactions. One being to help it, and the other to leave it alone.
Any advice would be appreciated! I'm guessing these guys are going to pop out tomorrow and I don't want to mess anything up.

 

[ButtonquailGirl14]

I would flip it around.. @Eggcessive @007Sean ?

 

[Eggcessive]

I don’t have experience with that, but hopefully others will comment.

 

[Eggcessive]

Try reading this article toward the bottom under “Malposition”
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/guide-to-assisted-hatching-for-all-poultry.72886/

 

[007Sean]

A picture would help to see what's really going on. Are you sure it pipped upside down? Sometimes it's very difficult to tell which way is up with button quail eggs....hard to tell if it has a pointy end and a round fat end. I've had plenty that were oval shaped and without candling you couldn't tell which end was which.
At this point, it would be best to lay the egg horizontal to hatch...if you can do that?

With eggs as small as button quail are it's hard to know what to do. I've never had to help a malpositioned button quail chick.
I would just try and get it into a horizontal position and see if it can make it out on it's own. Place the pip facing up, so it doesn't drown in the embryonic fluids. Other than that I don't really know what else to do for the chick.
Maybe someone else will be along that has experienced this with button quail.

 

[cuckleberry]

Yes, here are two pictures! I was worried about them drowning too.

 

[ButtonquailGirl14]

Yay on your hatch!

 

[cuckleberry]

Thank you! A few pipped around 2 this morning, so I'm hoping they start hatching soon.

 

[007Sean]

That looks ok, I think it will hatch, I'd still turn it up, (pip pointing up). Shouldn't loose to much moisture if done quickly and the moisture in the bator should recover quickly.

 

[cuckleberry]

We turned it over to be safe, and luckily our humidity went back to normal quickly. Thank you for your help! We'll post about the little chicks once they hatch! We may need help with identifying them anyways.