Guide to Assisted Hatching for All Poultry

Excellent, sensible, helpful
and thoughtful article. Well
explained with helpful photos. I would add that in the first few instances I assisted a hatch a little too late. I'm now very conscious of positioning and timelines. All my assists were healthy birds. It was usually my fault (at first) with the humidity a little high overall across time. I now adjust for the ambient humidity of the room as I live in a warm and humid area anyway. This is a re-read for my 3rd season and I pick up new info each time!!

Thanks for sharing this informative article with us. As a new quail-keeper I found this incredibly insightful when the chicks were hatching. We needed to assist the one pictured below. We used sterile tweezers as you recommended. The bird in question is still a bit small but gets on with the other birds just fine. The assisted hatch bird at nearly 8 weeks old loves a dust bath.

Very informative

I've literally read this whole thing multiple times because every incubate I'm asking myself "am I gonna need to do this?"

Last incubate I waited too long to intervene so I jumped the gun a little earlier with an unpipped eggs and.. here I am again.

Thank you for this masterpiece of what, when, and why.

Very helpful and thorough!

Good article, Tnx

Good info thanks

This explains so much! Thank you for the detailed breakdown!

Its a good article.

Great article. Going through this as I write this review. She (until proven otherwise) got herself out within minutes of creating a safety hole.

Although I have never and have no plans to hatch babies, I am very curious about the process. Good work putting this article together.

Excellent article. Very informative and well-written.

I used your article in 2019, when I did my first try on brooding chicks in an incubator and out of 6 eggs 5 lived and gave us 3 hens laying wonderful eggs and 2 roosters. It was so helpful and thorough it gave me the perfect confidence to try, and I had to help them to be hatched fully. I will try again this spring and was so happy to find this article still posted here. 5 years, one forgets how it goes...
thank you BYC for keeping this post!

Very informative and helpful! Went in depth which was much appreciated!

Loved it! Thank you so much for sharing this information

Well detailed article!

First I read the article about embryo development, then I read this article. I would pay to go stay for a month or a year to learn more! The wealth of knowledge, the willingness to share this knowledge is amazing.
To put a safety hole in every egg is brilliant.
Removing the shell of the egg sack to see what is wrong is also brilliant. It allows you to see inside without risking harm to the chick. Covering the membrane with coconut oil to prevent shrink wrap also brilliant.
Yes, I’m using the word ‘brilliant’ a lot. That’s because this is a brilliant article.
I think the embryo development article & this one should be included with every incubator!

This is an amazingly informative document and I thank you.
Our chickens do hatch their own but frequently the chicks struggle and I think it’s because the humidity is just not good enough… the hutch perhaps too hot and no humidity beyond the mother. We have had to help in the past but this really shows you how to do it safely. Thank you
The chicks we have helped have all been absolutely fine.

Thank you for making this post, and thank you @Nabiki for sending me the link

Thank you so much for this detailed guide! It is a life saver.