helping the little ones?

[Bantamz]

is it ok to help a chick break its egg shell? (when its hatching)

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

Its really best to let them handle the hatching themselves. Its hard to keep your hands off, but better in the long run...

 

[darkbluespace]

Everyone has their own opinions about this so you really have to follow your own gut. It is best if incubation conditions are right for eggs to hatch unassisted but if that wasn't possible, I do assist chicks if they appear to be malpositioned (12+ hours after external pip in air cell or 24+ hours after non air cell external pip) or if they start to zip but appear to get stuck after some hours. There is an assisted hatching article you can check out if you think your chick might be in distress. Good luck!

 

[Yorkshire Coop]

I totally agree with darkbluespace and howfunkyisurchicken. IMO if they are too weak to hatch they are too weak to live. Or become weak birds in your flock. I feel it's natures way of taking out the weakest so the strong can survive. Good luck .https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/step-by-step-guide-to-assisted-hatching.

 

[Orca5094]

You only want to consider helping them out as an absolute last resort. It's true that most of the time if they can't hatch out on their own then they really weren't meant to be and will die anyway. But I think in some cases it's ok to help (like if they are important/expensive eggs or are malpositioned inside the egg). In those cases I think it's ok to at least give them a chance. I just had one duckling pip on the wrong end of her egg and was unable to turn inside to unzip, so she absolutely needed help to get out. She is 8 days old now and doing great!

 

[Bantamz]

ok thanks

i might try to have one of my heavy breads and bantam have chicks

im not sure were getting bantams tho