Thanks. Its strange, as I was opening it up, it was almost like I was prepared for it to die in my hands, so I knew I couldn't do any worse than leaving it as it was, so I was ok with it. That could very well change, and I could regret it, but I'll deal with whatever happens. And learn from it.
IF you are doing what you feel is right, there will be no need for regret! Great learning experience, for sure.
My very first assist turned out to be my Australorp hen. Not only did she grow to be a strong healthy girl, but one of my best egg layers.My last hatch this season was my first hatch from eggs from my own chicks. I had 4 of her eggs in there. They all hatched healthy and strong and are growing great. I've kept my mouth shut all day on this topic because I feel very strongly about it and it comes down to personal opinion and choice. The reasoning that a chick needs help in the first place is the biggest key to it's chances. If it is a late hatcher from bad incubation-delayed hatch due to low temps then I would agree that the chances are pretty high that it'll be a weak chick and possibly die after hatch or need to be culled. A chick that is shrink wrapped or malepositioned, with no other health problems might die in the shell because we've created less than optimal conditions and have caused nature to put them at a disadvantage. That same chick can be helped to hatch, become strong with good care and be a productive part of the flock. If a chick is struggling and you do nothing and it fights all day tiring itself out and weakening it's body to the point of fatigue and failure does that mean that that chick would have died regardless?? No, it means the odds were against them and they couldn't overcome them without help. How do you know that with just a small effort on our part that the chick may have been perfectly fine? We all know this is one of SC's and my biggest differences. And we all know that many people won't help chicks and for many reasons be it "culling" is possible and sucks, they breed to perfection and a chick that can't hatch on it's own doesn't meet the requirement, whatever. I just can't see watching a chick struggle without at least giving it a chance. SC has few assists that haven't had to be culled, my experience is just the opposite, I've never had an assist I had to cull and only one that died after being helped over a week later of digestional complications.
I think to be fair you can not look at all assists the same. Another thing that should be considered is the ability of the hatcher that is doing the assist. If the assist is even being done right. I've read so many posts where the "assistant" went in with no idea and had they known what they were doing might have had a different outcome. I'm not saying that everyone should assist, I just think the idea of assisting is as jaded as opening the bator during hatch.
Why have you kept your mouth shut all day? It's your thread!

You brought up an excellent point about incubation conditions. You know yours so well and have been hands-on for so long I would probably end up assisting yours, too. But others do not have that experience, or may be dealing with shipped eggs, changes in altitude, unknown conditions of parent stock, etc.
I also think some people are fine with tube-feeding cross-beaked chickens, making wheelchairs for them, etc. That's totally fine if it's what you want to do. (Especially if you don't have to be at work all day!) There's a huge range of intervention vs. non-intervention, and we all have to find what works for us.
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