How to Tell if a Chick Needs Help Hatching

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. Learning how to tell if a chick needs help hatching is essential to prevent helping a chick hatch who actually didn’t need help at all! The hatching process takes time, and it will seem hard for the chick, but the struggle to hatch is essential for the chick to be a healthy, strong individual. Learn all about assisted hatching so that you can decide if helping a hatchling is beneficial or not!

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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. In some rare instances, the chick simply needs a minuscule amount of help to finish hatching and still develop into a strong, healthy individual.

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– nature governs by survival of the strongest, so a chick who can’t hatch by itself is not meant to hatch at all
• Every Chick Deserves a Chance- as humans, we may feel compelled to help a chick hatch because every life deserves a chance at living, even if helping a chick hatch results in a special needs chicken

Natural selection sounds harsh (and it is), but at the same time, not every chick is meant to live, so there is definitely a balance between the two stand points. Here are some more notes to consider when deciding if you should help a chick hatch or not.

Notes to Consider Before Helping:

• Hereditary- Helping a chick out of its shell can often lead to the issue becoming hereditary, with future generations of offspring from that bird also needing help hatching. Chicks that you plan on using for breeding you shouldn’t help hatch.
• Weak Legs & Muscles- Hatching and breaking free of the shell is nature’s way of strengthening a chick for life. When you help a chick hatch, it doesn’t have the opportunity to strengthen its muscles and often results in a weak hatchling.
• Leg & Neck Problems- Because the muscles aren’t strengthened through the process of hatching, help-out hatchlings usually have leg and neck issues like crooked toes, spraddled legs, or a twisted neck. The chick will not be able to stand correctly or have difficulty retaining its balance.
• Soft Abdomen- A chick’s abdomen is closing and absorbing the yolk sac up until minutes within of hatching. When you help a chick hatch, you run the risk of severing blood vessels or helping the chick out before its abdomen has fully closed and healed, resulting in blood loss or soft abdomen issues.
• Bleeding- Due to the abdomen not being fully enclosed and blood vessels not being completely blocked off, helping a chick hatch may result in excess bleeding which can injure or kill the chick.
• Development & Quality of Life- Hatchlings that have been helped out of the shell will usually have life-long issues either from weak muscles or lack of development. They may end up being a special needs chicken.

When to Help a Chick Hatch

If you decide that you do want to help a chick hatch, you should know when the proper time is to offer assistance. If you help the chick too soon, you run the risk of breaking blood vessels or the chick’s abdomen not being fully enclosed. Helping out too late results in the chick dying. You also don’t want to help a chick hatch who didn’t need help in the first place.

Never break open an un-pipped shell during hatch time. Once you have determined that the hatch is over, you can break open any un-hatched eggs to determine why they didn’t hatch. However, if you are waiting within the proper hatch time for an egg to pip, don’t be tempted to pip the egg yourself for the chick!

Only help a chick hatch who has already pipped the eggshell. And still, you will want to wait a good amount of time before determining that the chick needs help. Once a chick has pipped the eggshell, it may take a long break before proceeding with un-zipping and hatching. This is the first extensive movement that the chick has done, so it will need a break and time to breath fresh oxygen. Be patient and don’t jump in to help!

This break time between pip and unzipping gives the chick’s abdomen time to finish healing and allows any blood vessels to close off. It also gives the chick time to get fresh oxygen into its lungs.

A chick may take up to a 24-hour break from the time it first pips the shell to when it proceeds with hatching. If a chick does not hatch after 24 hours from first pipping, use the following factors to determine if you need to help.

Noise & Movement:

I generally don’t help a chick hatch who still seems active and is noisy. Chicks who rock their eggs and make strong cheeps are usually healthy enough to proceed with hatching on their own when they are ready. When a chick starts to get lethargic, I may consider helping it hatch.

Of course, it will be hard to determine when a chick is lethargic since it is still in the egg. However, use common sense and good judgement of timing. After 24 hours from initially pipping, if the chick is not making dramatic movements and not peeping, but you can still see breathing, then you may consider helping it a little bit.

Signs of breathing are always good to watch for in chicks who have pipped but have made no further progress. Peeping to the eggs as they are hatching may encourage the chicks to peep back and stimulate some movement!

Dry Shell Membrane:

Keep an eye on the shell membrane around the pip. As long as it still looks moist and flexible the chick will be able to proceed with hatching. When the shell membrane starts to dry out, the chick may need a little assistance.

When the shell membrane starts to dry out, it will start to shrink within the egg. A dried-out shell membrane can trap a chick inside the egg because it shrinks around the chick and inhibits movement. Generally, a shell membrane that looks solid white and appears stiff is starting to become dried out.

Breed History:

If possible, consider the chick’s breeding background or breed history. Some strains within a breed may have a reputation for needing help hatching, but that is also something that most breeders are trying to breed out of their strains.

If the chick’s parents needed help hatching, then more than likely the chick inherited the same problem. At this point it is up to you on whether or not you want to help the chick out or not. If you do, it is a good idea not to use that chick in future breeding programs.

Partially Unzipped:

Usually a chick who makes it to the unzipping stage can successfully hatch on its own. However, in rare instances a chick may get itself partially unzipped and then not be able to go on further. A dried-out shell membrane or an eggshell abnormality may cause a problem with unzipping.

Keep in mind that chicks will take breaks throughout the unzipping process, so be patient! As long as the chick is still active and breathing, it probably doesn’t need help.

Shrink Wrapped:

Unfortunately, once a chick becomes trapped by a shell membrane that has dried out entirely, there is not much you can do. Prevent this from happening by ensuring that the hatch humidity in the incubator stays at the proper level. A humidity around 65-70% is usually sufficient.

Pip Location:

Normally, a chick will pip at the air cell which should be located at the blunt end of the egg. This is because the chick internally pips into the air cell to start breathing prior to pipping the eggshell. A chick who pips away from the air cell may be improperly positioned.

Chicks who don’t pip at the air cell may also take longer to hatch since the chick pipped when it needed oxygen, not after it used the oxygen in the air cell. An abnormal pip location does not always necessitate a help-out, just keep in mind that the period of time from pip to actual hatch will be longer than normal.

Egg Size:

Hatching eggs that are smaller than normal for the breed may result in some chicks having trouble hatching. If there is not enough space to move around in the egg, the chick may have a hard time getting into proper hatching position or unzipping.

One thing to consider is the fact that you probably don’t want to hatch eggs that are smaller than normal for the breed. Also, you probably don’t want to breed chicks who hatch from smaller than normal eggs unless you are trying to develop a new strain.

Hatching Position:

A chick that has its head under its right wing is in proper hatching position. Proper hatching position gives the chick optimal mobility for pipping and unzipping. Chicks who are in any other position may have a harder time hatching due to limited mobility. Improper positioning can result from high incubation humidity, failure to keep the blunt end of the egg above the pointed end, and failure to stop turning the eggs in time for hatching.

Air Cell Position:

The air cell should be located at the blunt end of the egg. Air cells that are located elsewhere will make it more difficult for a chick. Since chicks generally rely on pipping into the air cell to start breathing and proceed with hatching, an improperly placed air cell might cause a chick to pip elsewhere away from the air cell.

Misplaced air cells can result from shipping eggs, improper handling of the eggs, improper turning, and the pointed end of the egg being higher than the blunt end of the egg for an extended period of time.

How to Help a Chick Hatch

If you determine that a chick does need some help and you choose to help it hatch, there are a few ways you can go about assisting a chick. You will want to help the chick as minimally as possible, and you will also want to minimize how many times you open the incubator.

Here are some steps to follow when assisting a chick. If at any point you feel like the chick can complete hatching on its own, stop assisting and put the egg back in the incubator.

Assisting a Hatchling:

1. Start by preparing a warm, moist spot to nestle the egg in while you assist the hatchling. A warm pad (like a rice bag) or a warm, damp towel works nicely for providing moist heat. You want to keep the egg warm similar to incubation and moist to prevent the shell membrane from drying out. The egg doesn’t need to be wet, just exposed to some humidity.
2. Wash your hands and sterilize some surgical tweezers in case you need them for breaking away some of the shell. Have a bowl of warm water or warm coconut oil nearby for moistening the shell membrane.
3. Quickly remove the egg from the incubator. At this point you want to work as efficiently as possible.
4. Start by moistening the shell membrane that is exposed at the pip. You can use warm water, but be careful not to put too much water on the membrane and accidentally suffocate the chick. Warm coconut oil also works well and is not likely to over saturate the membrane and affect the chick.
5. If you deem that the chick needs further help other than a moistened shell membrane, start chipping away portions of the eggshell near the pip with the sterilized tweezers. The pieces of shell you chip off should be no larger than a pea.
6. If the shell pieces are peeling off of the shell membrane, use the tweezers to gently break through the membrane as well. Mimic what a chick would do when it is unzipping as closely as possible.

If you see blood, STOP!

• Always break away pieces of shell following a typical unzipping pattern for the chick, which would circumference the egg from the point of the pip.
• At any point, if you see blood… STOP. The chick is not ready to hatch, and the blood vessels still need to finish closing off before the chick proceeds with hatching.
• If you do see blood, don’t panic. As long as it is only a small spot of blood and the location is not bleeding profusely, the chick may still be okay. Just put the egg back in the incubator and let the chick decide when it is ready to proceed.
• At any point, if the chick is active, cheeping loudly, and otherwise ‘feisty’ you may consider letting it finish the hatching process on its own.

If you proceed far enough that you have completed a total unzip, the chick will more than likely be struggling and ready to ‘unfold’ from the shell. Don’t pull the chick out! Let the chick do the rest.

Put the unzipped egg back in the incubator and let the hatchling kick free from the eggshell on its own. It can at least build-up some muscle in that way. Once free from the egg, let the chick stumble around the incubator and fluff out like normal.

Opening the Incubator Tips:

Opening the incubator will cause the humidity to drop, which can cause problems for other eggs that haven’t hatched yet. A drop in humidity can make the shell membranes of pipped eggs dry out faster. Ideally, you should only have to open the incubator twice to assist a hatchling: once to remove the egg that you need to help and once to put the egg back in.

When you do open the incubator, here are some tips for helping the humidity levels recover quickly:

• Place a warm, damp sponge in the incubator at the same time you remove or replace the egg that need assistance.
• Apply a few warm drops of water to the water pot or reservoir within the incubator.
• A warm, damp piece of paper towel can also be used instead of a sponger, just make sure the hatchlings that are fluffing out in the incubator don’t try to eat the paper towel.
• An incubator that controls the humidity itself will usually compensate for the decrease in humidity levels pretty quickly.

After Assistance

If you assisted the hatchling minimally, and didn’t do a complete unzip, continue to monitor the chick to see if it can finish hatching on its own. Of course, you will want to place the egg back in the incubator for the chick to finish hatching under the right environmental conditions. Again, this may take time as the chick gathers its bearing and strength to continue the hatching process.

If you assisted a hatchling all the way through the unzipping process, let it finish the job of pushing free of the eggshell within the incubator.

After you have assisted a hatchling, and the chick hatches successfully, you will want to monitor the chick closely and care for it like you would any other chick. If it does hatch with some malformities, you will need to decide if you want to care for the special needs chick or let nature run its course. An assisted hatchling will still need to fluff out properly in the incubator before being moved to the brooder. If you plan on using the chicks for breeding purposes, make sure you can identify the chick you helped out since you won’t want to use it for breeding.

Should I Help a Chick Hatch?

If at all possible, NO! Healthy chicks will be able to hatch all by themselves. It may take time, and it will be hard to be patient and watch the chick struggle, but the hatching process is essential for healthy, strong hatchlings.

Chicks don’t need help hatching. If they can’t hatch on their own, more than likely nature didn’t intend for them to hatch. The question is more or less should you help a chick hatch, and that is totally up to you. Being aware of why you shouldn’t help a chick hatch can help you make that decision. Whether you decide to help a chick hatch or not, at least you know how to assist and some of the factors that may necessitate assistance so that you don’t accidentally help a chick who doesn’t need help at all!

Here’s to a healthy, successful hatch on the homestead!

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by Alexa