The point of my question is in reference to all of the folks who post "my egg pipped, when should I help". I am a bit concerned that folks are getting the impression this is the norm, when helping chicks hatch should always be a last resort.
If all of your incubation controls were proper, it should not be necessary to help..ever. If you know you had challenges, it is best to wait until the hatch is finished before even opening an incubator, since the hatching environment should always be kept consistent. Even opening it only slightly to take a peak impacts the hatch and disturbs the environment. These types of disturbances cannot be recovered from, regardless of how "fast you got the humidity back up".
Let's consider it from a different perspective. A mama hen never leaves her nest until she feels the hatch is complete and babies are ready for the world. She generally does not assist weak or defective young and let's nature make the decision as to their fate. I'm not saying that's what we should do, in all cases..but in most I feel we should make every attempt to withhold our urge to interfere and let the hatch take its natural course.
I hope folks will find this as an educational post for anyone new to hatching. It is not meant to say helping is right or wrong, but I think people are helping too much or too soon, which can cause more harm than good for their hatches.
Good luck to all who are hatching and I wish you lots of happy healthy chicks!
Jody
If all of your incubation controls were proper, it should not be necessary to help..ever. If you know you had challenges, it is best to wait until the hatch is finished before even opening an incubator, since the hatching environment should always be kept consistent. Even opening it only slightly to take a peak impacts the hatch and disturbs the environment. These types of disturbances cannot be recovered from, regardless of how "fast you got the humidity back up".
Let's consider it from a different perspective. A mama hen never leaves her nest until she feels the hatch is complete and babies are ready for the world. She generally does not assist weak or defective young and let's nature make the decision as to their fate. I'm not saying that's what we should do, in all cases..but in most I feel we should make every attempt to withhold our urge to interfere and let the hatch take its natural course.
I hope folks will find this as an educational post for anyone new to hatching. It is not meant to say helping is right or wrong, but I think people are helping too much or too soon, which can cause more harm than good for their hatches.
Good luck to all who are hatching and I wish you lots of happy healthy chicks!
Jody
