Assisting chicks to hatch

[NicoleRM]

I recently saw this video about hatchery chicks and at about 1:30 it shows how they are vaccinated in the shell just before hatching, effectively manually pipping them on the big end of the egg. I wondered if it helped with hatch rates. It obviously doesn't cause too many problems, otherwise they wouldn't do it, knowing how important the bottom line is in factory farming.

 

[Cranman]

I assisted a chick in hatching last night for the first time. I had heard peeping for 1.5 days and it was 2 days past the hatch date. Of 8 eggs only one had hatched on it's own and I felt like I should help at least one more make it....anyways it was an ordeal. First I pipped the big end..no big deal there. Then a few hours later I got impatient and chipped some of the shell away. I tore the membrane some and blod welled up....not a pretty sight. I waited a few more hours and by then I was worried that it was going to shrink wrap. I put it in a warm wet wash rag and finished removing the shell with tweezers. No more blood but I pretty much had to completley remove the shell and dump the chick out, it was completely listless. It seems to be ok now, but I won't be in a hurry to assist again. I probably agree with those now that say let nature take it's course. Hard to do but mentaly that's probably easier than the stress of assisting.

 

[cmom]

I just helped the chick out. It had pipped yesterday morning and I lost one in another hatch as I let it go. This one would have not made it on it's own. No matter how hard I try to keep the humidity up it still was really stuck in the shell and would have died like the other one. It may not make it but it wouldn't have made it if I did nothing. At least it has a chance. I wraped it in a clean damp piece of cloth and put it on a heating pad with the pad over it too. I also had to use a wet q-tip too. It did pop out after that but some of the membrane was still stuck to it. I think I got it all off. I was trying not to tramatise it too much.

 

[Welsummer Rancher]

Why would you want to "help" a chick to hatch? Eggs have been hatching without our assistance for eons. Furthermore, it would seem that with few exceptions, any chick that was too weak to get out of its shell probably wouldn't thrive in spite of assistance. I guess something about "helping" just seems odd to me. ymmv

 

[chickenaddictntn]

I would let it be, that's just me but if you feel you must go 4 it I've never seen a hen do it though.

 

[A1 Steak Sauce]

Ah I wouldn't ever do that, when I was a kid I tried to cuz I heard them peeping and didn't know any better (I was little) so I cracked a few open to help, let's just say it was a bloody mess, the chicks died a slow painful death and I'm still bothered by the fact that I "ripped" chicks out of their shells... So I wouldn't try it lol. Besides, if it's too weak to get out of the shell by itself, it probably won't live very long. Even if it does, and that's rare, it'll never be as strong as the others. Have a rooster that someone helped hatch way back when, he's 2 years old and still much weaker than the others. I usually keep him in with the real young pullets for company, if I put him with the flock he gets flogged limp in a matter of minutes by the hens alone, not to mention what my other roos would do.

 

[cmom]

Well, the chick is doing good so far. It's fluffed out and walking around. I just hate to see things die. I didn't help a couple of chicks that were stuck in some other hatches and of course they died and I sure some die under a hen too. On a previous hatch I had one so stuck that one of the wings were stuck to its body. I put it in a sink in some warm water and cleaned it the best I could, now 4 months later you can't tell a thing, it's a happy chicken with the rest of it's flock.

I Guess most people wouldn't assist a chick if it needed help. I don't do it on a regular basis either only if the chick appears to be in trouble and can't get out of the shell. I had a chick once that had pipped and hadn't done anything more for a couple of days but I could see it move so I let it be. I went on an errand on the third morning and it was still breathing so I let it be. When I got home it was still only pipped not zipped and dead. I felt like a murderer and maybe if I had helped it it would of at least had a chance. I'm quite sure I'm not the only one who had done this, or felt "only if". So far all that I have helped, when needed, have survived. I wonder how long can they be pipped without zipping and live? A BYC member hatched a double yolker and was told it couldn't be done but yet she did and they survived. She posted pics of them when they started laying.

I don't make a habit of helping chicks hatch and I let them struggle for a day or two after they have pipped or zipped, but if I see after that they aren't making progress then I help them.

 

[NicoleRM]

I'll go ahead and out myself as a helper too. I always help if I feel it is necessary. I have no problem culling weak chicks after the fact, and have had to do so in the past, but it seems unfair to never even give them a chance due to an incubation anomaly or my own error during incubation. If I set the humidity too low and shrink wrap the chicks, it's not because they are genetically inferior that they get stuck, it's because *I* screwed it up, and I'm going to do what I can to allow them to survive my mistake.