Helping Chicks?

[mhaskell]

Is it ok to help the chick out of the egg once they have started to hatch?

 

[The Sheriff]

99.9% of the time the answer is no. Let them do it themselves.

 

[Andy J]

I have helped several out of the shell,but I don't recollect any of them surviving more than a couple of days.My personal opinion is that if they can't get out by themselves,they are probably not strong enough to survive anyway.I think the physical exertion of kicking and pushing to free themselves of the shell strenghthens them and prepares them for what's ahead.

It is sad to have several chicks break the shell almost completely and die before they can free themselves.It is also disappointing to have perfectly formed chicks die in the shell without even pipping the shell at all.

Andy

 

[abanjaf]

I have helped when it becomes obvious that they are in need of assistance. In general I don't think that it's a good idea to help, however in certain circumstances I will. For example, during my last hatch I was at work. I came home to find 8 fuzzbutts waiting for me, and 2 more eggs that had pipped. I also noticed the waterwells had run dry (don't know how that happened, filled them up the morning before). I refilled the water wells, but neither chick made any progress over the next day. Because of MY fault and the dry waterwells, both chicks were cemented to the inside of their shells and never would have made it to hatch. One chick's beak was cemented to the shell, I wound up giving that one a full bath to remove all the shell pieces attached to its body. That chick wound up with some minor trauma to its beak from the shell, but it now fully healed and I would have to point it out for anyone to be able to see it. Those chicks are now 2 weeks old and as active and healthy as the rest. Without help they wouldn't be here. Of course, with better attention to the water wells, the assistance wouldn't have been needed. But hey, life's not perfect and neither am I.