It is a personal call. As I've said I do help. Some people believe that if they do not hatch on their own then they should be left to let nature take it's course. But, I believe that since we are putting eggs in an incubator we are already messing with nature. Without knowing it we may be contributing to the reason WHY the chick is not hatching on it's own. There could be a reason that the chick is not hatching that makes the bird weaker or not good to breed, but then you need to decide what you will do if you end up with a special needs bird. Are you willing to put the chick down later if there are issues? If not are you willing to care for a special needs chick? My personal answer to both of these questions is yes. So that is why I do assist.
If you are going to assist, your best tools are tweezers and Qtips. You must go very slowly. Start out by chipping away from where the chick has already started. Use the tweezers and just pinch off little bits of the shell at a time. I then take my moist qtip and moisten the membranes to look for blood vessels. If you nick a blood vessel you can cause the chick to bleed out and die. If you nick a blood vessel stop what you are doing. Try using a dry qtip to hold over the bleed to try to stop the bleeding. Once you have replace the chick in the bator and let it rest. You can try again after a resting period. I go very slowly. I do not do the zipping in just one sitting. I chip, rest, chip, rest. Once that is done I continue to moisten the membranes looking for blood vessels. I there are any that are still visible then the chick is not ready to hatch. Keep the membranes moist and let the blood finish absorbing. As those vessels dry out you can start to push the membranes back.
But I do caution you. Sometimes these chicks tend to be weak when you finish hatching. They may need to remain a little longer in the bator to dry and get their strength up. You may also want to give this chick some Nutra Drench or Save A Chick shortly after finishing the hatch. Just be sure it does not go in their nostrils and they do not aspirate. Also keep in mind like I said that assisting does not come without its own risks. The chick could bleed out, you may hatch it to find that the yolk sac was not fully absorbed, the chick may have neurological issues or some other genetic issue that you cannot identify. You may be forced to care for a special needs chick or to cull it later. With all of that said I still assist because if the chick is going to die in the shell anyway, I feel like I want to give him every opportunity. And if I have to cull it later then what's the difference?
Let me know if you need any more help. Please let me know how it turns out.
