LittleMiss92
Chirping
- Oct 18, 2022
- 53
- 56
- 68
Hatch Assist
Please be aware this is a controversial subject. Some people believe intervening is wrong and nature should take its course. Other will criticise and argue about the way you choose to intervene.
It can take up to 36 hours to go from pip until it hatches. After 48 hours I will also assist with this method.
Why I assisted
At the end of day 22 this Australorp chick pipped at the wrong end. I straight away remove just the broken pieces of shell from the pip as sometimes their isn’t enough air for the chick when it pips at the wrong end. This is why it’s a large pip in the video.
I gave it 24 hours to make any progress, which it did not. Normally I wait 36 hours but the chick was cheeping a lot less then what I consider normal.
In my experience chicks that pip at the wrong end need help to some degree more then 75% of the time.
How I do it
It is a humid 25 degree morning here so I was not concerned with taking the egg out for 4 minutes to do this. Any colder and I would of heated the room first.
I use tweezers as you can see. Other people like to use coconut oil to keep the membrane moist and to avoid shrink wrapping. I do not do this only because nothing negative has ever happened with an assist. Maybe because I’m quick, have warm hands and a warm humid house or I’m just lucky. However I do recommend you moisten the membrane with some oil.
Grab a que tip and just slightly moisten the tip. Then gently rub the membrane. You want to use as little as possible to avoid drowning the chick and causing further issues. Coconut oil is thicker and does not run, this is why I recommend it.
First I check which way the chick is turning to zip. You can tell as the beak generally has moved from the spot it has pipped and therefore whichever way it has turned is the way it will zip.
I take a small amount of shell in the direction the chick is going to zip and then turn the egg and go the other way. You’ll see I did it both ways this time, this was because while I was holding the egg, the chick turned further. Also you’ll see that I stopped going one way because the shell was still stuck to the membrane and I did not want to risk ripping the membrane.
I do my best to mimic how a chick zips.
I remove very small pieces of shell at a time, SHELL ONLY, if you rip the membrane your chick could bleed to death.
I go about 40% of the way and then put the chick back in the incubator to try it’s own luck for another 12 hours. If there is no progress and/or reduced cheeping I will then go 95% of the way around and then put the egg back.
I wait another 3-5 hours (depending on what I’m doing that day or if it’s late and I want to go to bed). If the chick has not broken out, I then do it for it.
Warnings and cautions
If you nick any of the two membranes and there is only enough blood to just moisten the edge of the rip, don’t stress. If there is enough blood that it drips, freak out a bit. Stop everything, put the chick back and go to the next step of waiting 12 hours and looking for signs of struggle.
If blood loss occurs in any amount, the chick will take 12-24 hours longer to get its strength. A significant amount of blood loss (drip) will result in needing extra fluid and vitamin water for the first 48 hours. I once had a chick bleed a significant amount while hatching because chicks where walking all over it’s egg and caused issues. I do not like to isolate if a chicken is not contagious, so I put it with one other chick and encouraged extra fluid intake and provided vitamin water for the first 48 hours. Chicks do not need food or water for the first 48 hours after hatch, I am referring to after this period. The chick that had blood loss is now 4 weeks, well feathered, active, just a bit smaller then the others.
I couldn’t get the video to upload and instead added a link below to my page.
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100087126285363&mibextid=LQQJ4d
Maybe this will work
https://fb.watch/hdbGUutf5M/?mibextid=qC1gEa
Please be aware this is a controversial subject. Some people believe intervening is wrong and nature should take its course. Other will criticise and argue about the way you choose to intervene.
It can take up to 36 hours to go from pip until it hatches. After 48 hours I will also assist with this method.
Why I assisted
At the end of day 22 this Australorp chick pipped at the wrong end. I straight away remove just the broken pieces of shell from the pip as sometimes their isn’t enough air for the chick when it pips at the wrong end. This is why it’s a large pip in the video.
I gave it 24 hours to make any progress, which it did not. Normally I wait 36 hours but the chick was cheeping a lot less then what I consider normal.
In my experience chicks that pip at the wrong end need help to some degree more then 75% of the time.
How I do it
It is a humid 25 degree morning here so I was not concerned with taking the egg out for 4 minutes to do this. Any colder and I would of heated the room first.
I use tweezers as you can see. Other people like to use coconut oil to keep the membrane moist and to avoid shrink wrapping. I do not do this only because nothing negative has ever happened with an assist. Maybe because I’m quick, have warm hands and a warm humid house or I’m just lucky. However I do recommend you moisten the membrane with some oil.
Grab a que tip and just slightly moisten the tip. Then gently rub the membrane. You want to use as little as possible to avoid drowning the chick and causing further issues. Coconut oil is thicker and does not run, this is why I recommend it.
First I check which way the chick is turning to zip. You can tell as the beak generally has moved from the spot it has pipped and therefore whichever way it has turned is the way it will zip.
I take a small amount of shell in the direction the chick is going to zip and then turn the egg and go the other way. You’ll see I did it both ways this time, this was because while I was holding the egg, the chick turned further. Also you’ll see that I stopped going one way because the shell was still stuck to the membrane and I did not want to risk ripping the membrane.
I do my best to mimic how a chick zips.
I remove very small pieces of shell at a time, SHELL ONLY, if you rip the membrane your chick could bleed to death.
I go about 40% of the way and then put the chick back in the incubator to try it’s own luck for another 12 hours. If there is no progress and/or reduced cheeping I will then go 95% of the way around and then put the egg back.
I wait another 3-5 hours (depending on what I’m doing that day or if it’s late and I want to go to bed). If the chick has not broken out, I then do it for it.
Warnings and cautions
If you nick any of the two membranes and there is only enough blood to just moisten the edge of the rip, don’t stress. If there is enough blood that it drips, freak out a bit. Stop everything, put the chick back and go to the next step of waiting 12 hours and looking for signs of struggle.
If blood loss occurs in any amount, the chick will take 12-24 hours longer to get its strength. A significant amount of blood loss (drip) will result in needing extra fluid and vitamin water for the first 48 hours. I once had a chick bleed a significant amount while hatching because chicks where walking all over it’s egg and caused issues. I do not like to isolate if a chicken is not contagious, so I put it with one other chick and encouraged extra fluid intake and provided vitamin water for the first 48 hours. Chicks do not need food or water for the first 48 hours after hatch, I am referring to after this period. The chick that had blood loss is now 4 weeks, well feathered, active, just a bit smaller then the others.
I couldn’t get the video to upload and instead added a link below to my page.
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100087126285363&mibextid=LQQJ4d
Maybe this will work
https://fb.watch/hdbGUutf5M/?mibextid=qC1gEa
