I'm not hatching eggs just yet, but I've been wondering something. When the chick is ready to join the world it pips. Then it cuts a line across the egg until it is free & it falls out. I've heard several people say they had chicks die in the egg after it piped. Why don't we just "help" them out when they pip & crack open the egg? Is there something magical & life giving about having to escape the egg themselves? I'm really not trying to be a goof here, but I'd have a hard time being patient enough to let them do it themselves. I would want to help to avoid any that wouldn't make it.
They don't just fall out - LOL Once they've pipped they generally still need to absorb the yolk..................... and there is still blood running through little veins in the membrane - they can't just come out at that point... it takes some time. Its imposible to tell when the yolk has been absorbed and the chick is good to come out - only THEY know that.
I'm a newbie too and I found great info in the stickied thread at the top titled "Read Me's on Hatching".
Healthy chicks will pip and zip out of the eggs themself without any help whatsoever, they do not need help getting out...a pip to zipping out can take up to 24 hours or longer, the chick is learning to breathe on its own and it needs alot of rest in between the pip and zip, some take less than 6 hours some take alot more......its the weak chick that has a hard time getting out....Many reasons for letting nature take its course in incubating chicks......
Tuffy has it right. Healthy, vigorous chicks have little trouble hatching out and tend to pass this trait on to THEIR offspring. Weak hatchers, on the other hand, tend to pass that weakness on to the next generation. In the extreme, this can be disastrous to the longevity of the flock as a whole.... This differs from impeded hatching, by the way, which can result from physical factors not related to genetics. You can tell the difference pretty quick. Ive had entire hatches come off in 6 hours and entire hatches that took 3 days. Needless to say, the latter didn't do well at all. One of my key questions for any breeder is about chick vigor. You can help any chick you wan't, and very likely will when it comes your day. We have intervened by artificially incubating them, so we can continue by helping them out. Just be mindful of the implications when you do.