If you have done your research at all on hatching chicks, you will know that most sources tell you not to help a chick hatch. And I totally agree! Healthy chicks don’t need help hatching. However, I do believe there are circumstances in which you can help a chick hatch if you choose. You should know how to tell if a chick needs help hatching so you don’t help a chick hatch that didn’t need any help at all! The process of hatching takes time and will seem hard for the chick, but it’s necessary for the chick to be healthy and strong. Learn all about assisted hatching so that you can decide if helping a hatchling is beneficial or not!.
Raising chickens starts with a successful hatch. As an egg incubates, excitement builds for the arrival of new chicks. But sometimes, a chick may get “stuck” during the hatching process and need a little help. Knowing when to intervene can mean the difference between life and death for a chick. This guide will cover when and how to assist a chick in hatching.
How Chicks Normally Hatch
In the wild, a broody hen carefully turns her eggs, controls the temperature and humidity, and even helps the chicks hatch. In an artificial incubator, however, conditions aren’t always perfect, which can lead to problems.
Chicks go through several stages during a normal hatch
- Days 1-17: The chick develops inside the egg
- Day 18: The chick internally pips by breaking through the inner membrane with its egg tooth
- Day 19-20: The chick externally pips by cracking through the eggshell and starts the process of zipping around the shell
- Day 21: The chick fully emerges from the shell
From initial pip to hatch can take 12-24 hours as the chick rests between efforts, rotates, and absorbs its yolk sac.
When to Consider Intervention
It’s generally recommended to allow a pipped chick at least 24 hours from initial pip before assisting. However, certain signs may point to a chick needing help sooner:
- No progress 12-18 hours after pipping
- Signs of respiratory distress like gaping or whistling after pip
- Shrink wrapped membranes limiting movement
- Sticky chick unable to rotate due to excess fluids
Conversely, some issues indicate a chick that likely won’t survive even with assistance
- Physical deformities inhibiting hatch
- Extremely underdeveloped chick
Use your best judgement before intervening with a weak chick.
How to Assist a Chick Hatching
If a chick meets criteria for needing help, here are tips for safely assisting:
- Sterilize hands and tools to prevent infection
- Maintain high humidity around 65-70% during the process
- Carefully widen the existing pip hole over the air cell
- Apply vegetable oil to the exposed membranes if they are dry
- Look for receding blood vessels and yolk absorption
- Gently peel membranes away once the chick is ready
- Help free the head and body if needed
Avoid tearing the membranes, causing bleeding, or pulling too early. Take your time and let the chick absorb its yolk before taking it out all the way.
Providing Aftercare
Chicks that hatch with assistance are often weaker and may need special care:
- Dry the chick well and monitor body temperature
- Provide immediate access to food and water
- Watch for issues with legs, feet, wings, or neck
- Keep chick separate if showing signs of sickness
- Be prepared for potential special needs or reduced viability
Even with the best efforts, assisted chicks may struggle to thrive. But the rewards of a successful assist make the effort worthwhile.
Determining when a chick needs hatching help takes patience and care. Allow normal hatching to proceed if possible. But if intervention becomes necessary, sterilize tools, maintain humidity, and work slowly. With proper technique and aftercare, an assisted hatch can still result in a healthy chick. The miracle of a new life emerging is worth the effort.
Notes to Consider Before Helping:
- Hereditary: Being able to help a chick hatch can cause the problem to be passed down to future generations of birds that will also need help hatching. If you want to breed the chicks, you shouldn’t help them hatch.
- Legs That Are Weak Because you help a chick hatch, it doesn’t have time to build muscle, which usually makes the hatchling weak.
- Leg The chick won’t be able to stand up straight and will have trouble keeping its balance.
- “Soft Abdomen” means that the chick’s abdomen is closing up and absorbing the yolk sac until just minutes before it hatches. If you help a chick hatch, you might cut its blood vessels or take it out before its abdomen is fully closed and healed, which could cause it to lose blood or have problems with its soft abdomen.
- Bleeding—Because the abdomen isn’t fully closed off and blood vessels aren’t completely blocked off, helping a chick hatch may cause too much bleeding that can hurt or kill the chick.
- Building up They may end up being a special needs chicken.
Should I Help a Chick Hatch?
So, should you even consider helping a chick hatch out of its egg? That’s really up to you. When it comes to whether or not you should help a chick hatch, I think that is a personal decision you have to make based on your circumstances and morals. Only very rarely does the chick need a tiny bit of help to finish hatching and still grow up to be a strong, healthy person.
However, in most instances, chicks who need help hatching will not be the healthiest individuals. When it comes to deciding whether you should help a chick hatch, consider these two stand points:
- Natural Selection says that the strongest will survive, so a chick that can’t hatch on its own isn’t meant to hatch at all.
- Everyone Should Have a Chance—as people, we might feel compelled to help a chick hatch because every life should have a chance to live, even if that means raising a chicken with special needs.
Because not every chick is meant to live, natural selection does sound harsh. However, there is a balance between the two points of view. Here are some more notes to consider when deciding if you should help a chick hatch or not.
Helping Eggs Hatch | How To Save the Chick
FAQ
How long should I wait to help a chick hatch?
Generally, you should wait at least 24 hours after the chick has pipped (made the first small hole in the shell) before considering assisting with hatching.
When to intervene with chicken hatching?
Some people say we should at least give the chick 24 hours after the shell first cracks before assisting because doing so could harm the poult, resulting in serious deformity or death.
When to help a baby chick out of its shell?
Help a chick hatch only if it has partially opened its shell but hasn’t moved at all in the last 24 hours, as long as the chick is full-term. While it may take some time for chicks to fully zip, if it started but has since stopped, it may be malpresented. ”.
How do you know when to help an egg hatch?
In these cases, the egg has pipped, but it isn’t followed by a zip. Normally this can take hours, often twelve or more, The peep may rest or sleep as it is working to hatch. That being said, if this goes on for hours and hours and the peep and cries get weaker, we might step in.