Is it ok to make safety holes anyway?

[alireza18feb]

Hello
I'm sure that many of you have read this wonderful article on assisted hatching.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/guide-to-assisted-hatching-for-all-poultry.72886/

Last time I incubated eggs, I lost two expensive chicks just because they weren't able to pip externally
they had suffocated inside the eggs, I saved one by doing a full assist.
I have some expensive eggs in the incubator rn and they're all ok, I can't afford to lose another chick, I wanted to know if would be ok to make a very small hole on all eggs after they've piped internally so I would not worry about them suffocating.

 

[LadiesAndJane]

Hello
I'm sure that many of you have read this wonderful article on assisted hatching.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/guide-to-assisted-hatching-for-all-poultry.72886/

Last time I incubated eggs, I lost two expensive chicks just because they weren't able to pip externally
they had suffocated inside the eggs, I saved one by doing a full assist.
I have some expensive eggs in the incubator rn and they're all ok, I can't afford to lose another chick, I wanted to know if would be ok to make a very small hole on all eggs after they've piped internally so I would not worry about them suffocating.

Yes you can make a safety hole AFTER the chick has internally pipped and has not made any progress. Most people say wait 24 hours before doing so, but I have done so as early as 6 hours if I am concerned about malpositioning, with good results. I followed the instructions in the article you sited.

 

[alireza18feb]

Yes you can make a safety hole AFTER the chick has internally pipped and has not made any progress. Most people say wait 24 hours before doing so, but I have done so as early as 6 hours if I am concerned about malpositioning, with good results. I followed the instructions in the article you sited.

thank you...do you know how long they have after they've piped internally? I've heard its about 6 hours before they run out of air.

 

[bhaugh]

I wouldn't reccommend it. As soon as air can get inside, the membrane starts to dry out or shrink wrap the chick. I've done something like this more than once but learned the hard way it didn't work too well. If your having to assist alot then something is wrong with your temp and or humidity or the eggs your trying to hatch has weak chicks inside. I'm a firm believer that when we have to assist chicks (when all else being equal ie temp and humidity) we weaken the gene pool by raising chicks that can't even get out of the egg.

 

[LadiesAndJane]

thank you...do you know how long they have after they've piped internally? I've heard its about 6 hours before they run out of air.

Under normal conditions it more likely up to 24 hours.

 

[LadiesAndJane]

As you can read, this is a debated topic with many opinions. In the end you will have to do what you think best after doing your research. In my opinion, when we incubate eggs in an incubator we are removing the natural environment, so difficult to say whether a perfectly healthy chick would or would not have hatched. When you have shipped eggs, this increases your chances of malpositioning. This with the added factor of expensive eggs, I believe it is worth doing in certain circumstances. Just do not intervene too early. A very small safety hole will not dry out the membrane in my experience. Make sure you have the correct humidity as well.