Assisted Hatching

[chic-a-deee]

I've noticed alot of advice on NOT helping chicks out of eggs.
I dont have any eggs ready to hatch, but just wondering what happens when people try to help chicks out of their eggs??
Thanks

 

[chookhead]

more often than not they die r come out weak u grow attached to them then they die so dont help them unless there still alive and cant ge tout for ages htere are alot of threads on thos website to help u out

 

[yinepu]

i have helped hundreds hatch and have lost very few

it all depends on the skill level of the person doing the assisting and the overall health of the chick.. if you have a deformed chick then then skill level doesn't matter as much.. however many many times the chick is either too weak from struggling or the chick is shrink wrapped because he made a large pip and then waited too long to finish the job of zipping.. in cases like that where there is nothing genetically or physically wrong with the chick (other than being tired) it can survive just fine so long as the person assisting knows what they are doing (or is really good about following directions) and gets them out of most of the shell ASAP

so no.. assisting a chick is not an automatic death sentence.. there are many people on this board who have successfully assisted plenty of hatches with great results

 

[Ridgerunner]

Some people consciously do not help, no matter what. They figure they are breeding a stronger flock of chickens by only letting the "strong" survive. Others will try to help.

I've had success and failure in trying to help. To me, the key is knowing when to help. My technique is different that Yinepu's, but it also has worked. Different chicks take different times between pip and zip, some are real quick and some seem to go on forever. If you try to help before the chick is ready, you can finish it off. So to me, timing is the key.

 

[yinepu]

Quote:
Ridgerunner is right.. timing and patience are the key.. well.. and knowing if you should assist at all


I am one of those people who hates to see a perfectly healthy chick left to die (especially when it's just a victim of circumstance and is stuck in the shell by no fault of it's own)
However assisting a chick hatch is completely the choice of the person who owns the eggs.. just because some of us WILL assist when it's needed many believe that it's wrong to assist.. personally I leave that choice up to the person who owns the eggs and I have to respect their decision even if it's not something I personally would do

my preferred method (when assisting is going to be the difference between a chick hatching and not) is to assist as little as possible and to let the chick finish hatching on it's own if it's able
there have been some who were just stuck a little and only needed the tiniest bit of help.. others were facing certain death and were just too weak to progress even when they were "unstuck"

also when I said i believing in getting a chick out of the shell ASAP.. i meant with taking into consideration going as slowly as needed to allow the chick to close off veins and absorb the yolk (which is where timing and patience play a major role)

 

[packmomma]

I watched youtube videos on it before my hatch. I only had the one and the air cell was little so I thought maybe I' should learn just in case. I watched the twin birth, that was amazing. The only way I helped was after my little one pipped I opened the hole and removed the little membrane piece so I was sure it had enough air. It hatched itself then after that. It was amazing to watch.

 

[Cherstin]

This thread has brought to mind a question: do hens ever assist in a hatch? Maybe it's a dumb or strange question ... I just truly didn't know the answer. My gut instinct would be no, as it seems to me that Mother Nature can be awfully selective when it comes to the choices that animal-parents can make. I've seen cats abandon kittens, dogs abandon puppies, so I'm guessing mama hens would be no different, but I'm curious if "assisting" is something WE picked up from THEM, or if it's more a human trait.

Best of luck with your hatch, I hope you don't even need to worry about it!

 

[cmom]

Quote:
A hen brooding is different than incubating. You are correct in assuming that a brooded chick will die unless a human intervenes. I have never had that problem but I know some people who have assisted chicks that were pipped and partially zipped under a hen that weren't hatching and have help the chicks hatch. Either way many assisted chicks live and thrive. I have had some die but most have lived. This past hatch I had this weekend I assisted 2 chicks they partially zipped and then got stuck. Probably my fault as I do take the hatched chicks and their shells out of the hatchers quickly and they partially shrink wrapped, but they are doing well. One I gave it a bath twice, once just after it hatched to get most of the ick off and later after it had rested awhile I gave it a second bath to get the rest of the dried ick off. It's doing quite well. If the chick has pipped but has not start to zip then it is ify and the chick may live but it may die. If the chick has partially zipped or has a very large hole where it pipped then its chances for survival increase. You have to be very careful and pull the shell off around a line where the chick would normally zip being careful to leave the membrane in tack. I moisten the membrane with warm water and either a Q-tip or my finger.

Here is a video of a BYC member that helped twins hatch. The concept is the same except she had two pips in the shell.
By needmorechickens!

 

[Barbedwirecat]

Pete55 addresses that with this post here:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=491013

very informative and step by step.

 

[chic-a-deee]

Quote:
Ridgerunner is right.. timing and patience are the key.. well.. and knowing if you should assist at all


I am one of those people who hates to see a perfectly healthy chick left to die (especially when it's just a victim of circumstance and is stuck in the shell by no fault of it's own)
However assisting a chick hatch is completely the choice of the person who owns the eggs.. just because some of us WILL assist when it's needed many believe that it's wrong to assist.. personally I leave that choice up to the person who owns the eggs and I have to respect their decision even if it's not something I personally would do

my preferred method (when assisting is going to be the difference between a chick hatching and not) is to assist as little as possible and to let the chick finish hatching on it's own if it's able
there have been some who were just stuck a little and only needed the tiniest bit of help.. others were facing certain death and were just too weak to progress even when they were "unstuck"

also when I said i believing in getting a chick out of the shell ASAP.. i meant with taking into consideration going as slowly as needed to allow the chick to close off veins and absorb the yolk (which is where timing and patience play a major role)

Ohhh....right, so its also a kind of physical thing for the chick??? I didnt realize they had to close off veins & absorb the yolk etc... I just thought it was time to get out so
GOOOoo for it. What else has to happen (naturally) before the chick can survive outside of the shell?