@Hatch in chicks , have you ever read this article?
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/guide-to-assisted-hatching-for-all-poultry.72886/
To answer your question, the article addresses dealing with a chick with an unabsorbed yolk. (That's never happened to me and I had forgotten the article addressed the issue.) Scroll down the article until you see the section that addresses your question.
The entire article is a must-read for anyone that hatches chicks, whether in an incubator or under a broody hen. I let a shrink-wrapped chick die many years ago because I didn't understand what was wrong, but had heard the advice "don't assist." Since reading the above article, I have helped several shrink-wrapped chicks mostly out of their shell, only leaving their legs inside. I've never removed them from their shell completely in case they still had yolks to absorb. A healthy but shrink-wrapped chick will kick free of the remaining shell when it's ready. I confess I've also begun to help some chicks out too early, but having read the above article, I knew to stop immediately, and those chicks survived too. It's a learning process, and unfortunately that includes learning from our mistakes. I believe after you read the article, you will have a much better understanding as to if/when to assist in the future.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/guide-to-assisted-hatching-for-all-poultry.72886/
To answer your question, the article addresses dealing with a chick with an unabsorbed yolk. (That's never happened to me and I had forgotten the article addressed the issue.) Scroll down the article until you see the section that addresses your question.
The entire article is a must-read for anyone that hatches chicks, whether in an incubator or under a broody hen. I let a shrink-wrapped chick die many years ago because I didn't understand what was wrong, but had heard the advice "don't assist." Since reading the above article, I have helped several shrink-wrapped chicks mostly out of their shell, only leaving their legs inside. I've never removed them from their shell completely in case they still had yolks to absorb. A healthy but shrink-wrapped chick will kick free of the remaining shell when it's ready. I confess I've also begun to help some chicks out too early, but having read the above article, I knew to stop immediately, and those chicks survived too. It's a learning process, and unfortunately that includes learning from our mistakes. I believe after you read the article, you will have a much better understanding as to if/when to assist in the future.
