It is a very small sample but I have discovered when I help a shrink wrapped chick to hatch and it is covered in gunk that it works better for me to run them under warm water than it does to poke at them with a wet Qtip or kleenex or whatever. The first one I helped didn't make it, however the last two I did help made it just fine...the last two were run under water. When I say 'help' this is more than taking a few shell pieces off, it is more like I totally unwrap it from just a pip that never progressed. When I rinse it off I hold it in one hand making sure I keep the head away from the water. This last one seemed to really enjoy it. The first thing medical folks do to a newborn human baby is give it a bath, so I figured bathing a baby chick (no soap, just warm water) could be an option. After they are rinsed they dry and fluff pretty quickly...I have found that when they are born gunky it takes forever for them to dry and fluff. Drying it off I figured was critical...I used kleenex as they quickly absorb moisture. I suspect that the limited handling of the chicks that were just rinsed and dried rather than the lengthly time it took me to deal with one with Qtips was a benefit too. And they both got a lot cleaner. My last hatch went out to the coop pretty quickly too. I only keep chicks inside the house for a week or less. If they are running around, eating and drinking and acting 'normal' they go outside in a pen inside the coop. I do not put a heatlamp on them in the coop, inside the house I only turn it on if temps go below 80 degrees...which here in TN it hasn't for some time. Both inside the house, and out in the coop I rely on them screaming their little heads off if they are uncomfortable. This has worked so far for the last three hatches. When I was first getting into chickens and was doing the research I suspect that a lot of the information and advice was based on commercial chicken farming and raising them one batch at a time in my kitchen was to be a little different.
You are so smart to post this: I completely agree with your methods and wish I had thought of it the last time I had to "help hatch". Good advice and I will definitely refer to this post in the future if need be. : )
Needless to say it was a very gentle sprinkle and all I did to check for the correct temperature was to guess about it ...It felt 'about right'. I must wait long enough to help hatch because all of them had completely absorbed the yolk. I don't know about running a chick under water that hasn't absorbed the yolk.
