Post by crftychk13 on Jun 5, 2009 8:46:20 GMT -6
Has anyone ever "helped" a chick hatch? I have read about it. I see there are people who say not to help at all....if it cant get out, it was never meant ot be. But I cant do that. So, I read about helping (only if needed) and see that its risky. The only thing I cant find an answer to is how long between "piping" and full hatch? I assume its been trying since about 2-3am. Now its at this point (see pic below 10am) I am new at this....I would much rather let a broody hen do her job...but none of mine seem to want to. So I must now be "mommy hen". Just a tiny bit of guidance from people with some experience would help!My boys are very very excited for this to happen! Thanks! ~Jenn
My husband jokes and tells people that if there is 2 things his wife knows all about it is "birthing babies or hatching eggs" 
....while I don't agree with him on this I will say I have been runnin' incubators over 20 years now. First of all, a chick can "knick" an egg such as your picture shows and still take an easy 24 hours to hatch..sometimes even longer..I wouldn't interfere at this point..The MOST important thing to remember at this point is that once those eggs start hatching..DO NOT open up your incubator very often and look at them..only open it once per day to take out already hatched chicks!!..Everytime you expose that cracked egg to air..it hardens up that inside membrane (that is now exposed to air)..and makes it more difficult for that chick to break through..and it also will make that membrane glue to that chicken like concrete. I have helped hundreds of chicks to hatch, and with mostly a good success rate. My philosophy on it is this...if the egg does start to hatch, and after say 24-36 hours it has not hatched completely and the chick is still living...I will barely peel a little bit of the egg (and the membrane) back around the chick's beak and give it an hour or so and see what happens..if the chick still is not out and needs help..then peel a little more of the egg back around its head..the chick's head will be folded down next to the body..I will peel the egg back enough so that the chick can straighten its head out..(You will sometimes notice a small amount of bright red bleeding as you peel the membrane back but this is not actually coming from inside the chick's body,,but from some veins which run inside that membrane) I will hold a dry rag to the egg to keep the chick dry from the bleeding if that occurs..once the chick can straighten out its head it usually..if left alone...can get the rest of its body out...I try not to ever hatch the chick's rear-end from the shell because that is where it is still "attached" to the egg and where any dangerous bleeding from the chick itself can take place. If the chick, when hatched, appears weak..dip its beak in either water mixed with electrolytes, or very sugared water. If the chick is unable to de-tach its rear end from the shell and just lays in the incubator very weak..I find they are the ones who usually don't make it. I have never found, myself, that the ones I "help" hatch are treated any differently from chicks that hatch on their own..or act any differently. Right now I have guinea eggs and peacock eggs in my incubator I am hatching for a guy I know. I have already incubated several hundred chick eggs since February of this year and mine have all went well.. I hope this info helps...this didn't come from a book, just my personal experience and I'm sure everyone's is different. 
the baby is out! Thanks!
congrats on the new chick Jenn .. I am sure this will help a lot of people with their little chicks !