Do you ever "help"?

[Wantsasock]

Hi folks!

I have a chicken sitting on a few Guinea eggs. So far only 1 has made it out, 3 were not viable. The last egg started pipping yesterday afternoon; there was the start of a small hole in the shell. As of now, more than 24 hours later, the hole has maybe doubled in size, which is about the size of a pencil eraser. The chick is moving & talking in there, but doesn't seem to be making much headway w/ this process. Other keets we've hatched have popped out quickly once they started a hole. FWIW, this is now day 32 for this baby. The other one hatched on day 28. We were thinking this one was dead until I heard a little pecking yesterday.
So, I know it's best to let nature take it's course, but is there some rule of thumb by where at some point you help them out, or make the hole a little bigger. I wonder if they can just get so tired they die...? I'd really hate to lose this one. I bought these eggs & only 6 were viable, & so far I've only got 3 keets. Disappointing.

Thank you very much for any advice!
Aimée

 

[cluck-cluck]

I didn't help mine and it died, so now I wish I had. I've read people that do and those that don't. I've read of people that did and ended up with healthy chicks. If you do help, make sure you keep high humidity where you are working and peel pieces carefully, don't stab it and be mindful of any blood veins that might not have been absorbed yet. Good luck, whichever choice you make!

 

[sumi]

I've helped chicks hatch quite a few times. If you are careful and the chick's ready and healthy you'll be fine. This thread tells you exactly what to do:

If intervention is necessary as a last resort