Should I help the hatch?

[lazy gardener]

I had my best ever hatch by boosting humidity to 75% at lock down (thanks Amy) and keeping the eggs in cartons.

 

[kuchchicks]

I had my best ever hatch by boosting humidity to 75% at lock down (thanks Amy) and keeping the eggs in cartons.

I have a set due to hatch June 3. Can you post a pic of how you have your egg cartons cut down? Also are you laying eggs on sides or pointy end down? Does it leave enough room for them to push egg apart? Does this prevent eggs from rolling when hatched chicks are crawling all over them?

 

[AmyLynn2374]

I have a set due to hatch June 3. Can you post a pic of how you have your egg cartons cut down? Also are you laying eggs on sides or pointy end down? Does it leave enough room for them to push egg apart? Does this prevent eggs from rolling when hatched chicks are crawling all over them?

Most people cut the sides of cartons down for more air flow and some cut out the bottoms. Eggs are pointy end down and yes they hatch just fine. (Though I have read a study that found that eggs in the upright position to hatch take a little longer to complete the process.) It does decrease the amount of rolling and abuse the eggs take from the hatched chicks. The main thing to look out for though are malepositioned pippers because it is harder to see a pointed end pipper and harder for them to get air.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Hatching is not a real simple process. The chick needs to absorb the yolk, dry up blood vessels external to the body and absorb that blood, somehow dry up the gunk that can make the down plastered down instead of fluffy when it dries, learn to breathe air instead of living in an liquid environment, and who knows what else before it is ready to come out. Internal pip is when it starts breathing air. Some chicks do a lot of the other things before internal pip or between internal pip and external pip. These tend to hatch pretty soon after external pip. But some do a lot of this between internal pip and external pip. It can be really frustrating waiting on these to come out. Some don’t totally do all this before they come out. A lot of these make it but they are at greater risk.

Knowing when to help, if you do, is hard. You just don’t know how ready they are to come on out. If they are not ready, helping them can kill them. If they are in trouble and you don’t help, they can die. I’ve helped a few. Some make it, some don’t. There is a reason they are having trouble hatching. That may be something you did or it may be that they are just not meant to make it.

We all do things our own way for our own reasons. For me the best way to do it is to read up on it so you have an idea of what you are dealing with then go with your gut. Patience is usually your friend, but not always.

When I help a chick I prepare a cup of warm water, about 100 degrees, and rinse the chick off to remove some of that gunk so it can move when it dries. Keep the head above water and keep it warm. I don’t worry about removing all the gunk, just enough so it can move its legs, neck, and wings. Any gunk left will wear off within a week or so.

I don’t know if having them in cut-down cartons is better or not. The commercial operations that may hatch a million chicks a week lay them on their side, but their reason doesn’t apply to me. With 100,000 or more chicks per hatcher putting out heat, their big problem is to keep the heat from building up so high that it cooks the eggs. They cool off better laying on their sides than if they are upright. I certainly don’t have that problem.

To me there are risks both ways. As Amy said, if they pip at just the wrong spot they may have trouble breathing in a carton. I lay mine flat and let them roll. It’s generally not a problem but I once saw a half shell from a hatched chick get cupped around an egg that had pipped. I noticed it and removed it and the chick hatched fine, but if I had not removed it the chick probably would not have made it. You are dealing with living animals so there are no guarantees either way. Just choose a method for your own reasons and go for it.


Good luck!

 

[scflock]

I'll answer your question with a question of my own. If you were facing a Cesarean delivery would you chose some one to operate who had never delivered a baby by Cesarean section before? If not wait.

If you don't mind, I believe I will be borrowing that statement in the future. That was an excellent way to put it

 

[eviemethugh]

Thanks everyone. I'm trying to keep it higher we have 5 more pips today that are starting to zip, wish I could sneak a sponge under them, but hopefully just filling all the channels will keep them around 75% with way to much action with the dropper

 

[eviemethugh]

And ridge runner I can guarantee I'm doing something wrong! Is anyone perfect by their second hatch? I've read tons online and in books but nothing compares to hands on. The two that I assisted are doing great and had absorbed all of the yolk by the time I decided to get in there. I'm glad I did, I don't think they would have freed themselves of the membrane otherwise. And the posts that were here were great at helping me wait (we'll maybe not the c section one...) and I enjoyed your response also.

For the "this is a c section" idea...I'm reviving a 7th generation dairy & beef operation. Slowly removing shell while leaving the membrane is nothing compared to pretty much any other birth that has happened here.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Thanks everyone. I'm trying to keep it higher we have 5 more pips today that are starting to zip, wish I could sneak a sponge under them, but hopefully just filling all the channels will keep them around 75% with way to much action with the dropper

And ridge runner I can guarantee I'm doing something wrong! Is anyone perfect by their second hatch? I've read tons online and in books but nothing compares to hands on. The two that I assisted are doing great and had absorbed all of the yolk by the time I decided to get in there. I'm glad I did, I don't think they would have freed themselves of the membrane otherwise. And the posts that were here were great at helping me wait (we'll maybe not the c section one...) and I enjoyed your response also.

For the "this is a c section" idea...I'm reviving a 7th generation dairy & beef operation. Slowly removing shell while leaving the membrane is nothing compared to pretty much any other birth that has happened here.

I use sponges., I just wet em and set em on the screen where the eggs are. (No open containers.) Then if I need to refresh during hatch I just grab it out and re wet it and slide it back in. As for assisting. My first assisted chick is now one of my best layers and she would not have been here if I hadn't assisted as she was very malepositioned with her foot over her beak. Even drs have firsts before they become experts. I read and reread and reread the assisting page over and over even before lockdown so that I had a good guidance tool. Went swimingly. The problem is with assisting too soon, more so than anything. Newbies are too quick to want to pull the chicks out w/in a few hours of pip and that is where the caution should lay. (Not minimizing the fact the hatcher should have researched and have an idea of what the heck they are doing.)