Helping Chickens Out

chickville · **Joined:** Tue Mar 05, 2013 6:15 pm **Posts:** 7

I just helped 3 chicks out today I hope they will be ok I will have to wait until tomorrow to find out

AndyTree · **Joined:** Wed Nov 14, 2012 3:41 pm **Posts:** 5

I hope they are ok

oozcorpse · **Joined:** Sun Nov 04, 2007 8:15 am **Posts:** 2715

LooLoo wrote:

Its 100% an individual choice no wrong or right about it :-D

LooLoo

just quoting as this is my sentiment as well

originbreed · **Posted:** Wed Mar 06, 2013 7:54 pm

I find when using the incubator you will need to help some of the chicks so they can at least breathe or get thier head in the correct position. I have seen chicks that have pipped but have then had thier head stuck under a wing. removing some of the shell definately helps them survive.
we often remove the hatched chicks out of the incubator. they roll the unhatched eggs around. removing them does take away the encouraging sounds of chirping for the unhatched chicks.

PNPoultry · **Joined:** Wed Mar 06, 2013 8:28 pm **Posts:** 2

Its important to leave the chicks in the incubator for 24 hours to gain the strength from the high temp I think many people take them away to soon and thats not a good idea they won't hurt the other eggs by rolling them and as you mentioned the chick call helps the others to come forth and hatch

Houdan Hens · **Joined:** Sun Mar 10, 2013 1:05 pm **Posts:** 1

I will admit to helping a few out and only 1 chick did not survive but I don't think it would have anyway

PNPoultry · **Joined:** Wed Mar 06, 2013 8:28 pm **Posts:** 2

Thats good odds 1 in 5

oozcorpse · **Joined:** Sun Nov 04, 2007 8:15 am **Posts:** 2715

Hi PNPoultry and Houdan Hens and welcome to the forum = I see these are your first posts

This is slightly off topic but still very much on topic as it relates to helping chicks out of the shell

Using egg cartons to hatch the eggs in is a better way of stopping chicks rolling the unhatched around – I have used egg cartons for many years.

It is documented elsewhere that chicks have ‘drowned’ when the egg has been turned over and they try to hatch facing downwards

Put the hatching eggs into egg carton receptacles inside the incubator – they push UP and out of the shell and don’t move the other yet to hatch eggs around

Pullet eggs are much thicker shelled than hen eggs. This makes it more difficult for a chick to break thru them. As the hen gets older the shell gets thinner and slightly larger each year = the size of the egg determines the size of the new chick and later (to some extent) the adult bird

Many are using pullet eggs these days then reporting problems at hatch believing it is a weak chick they have when in most cases it is a pullet egg they are talking about and just trying to break thru tires the chick out too much

I recommend to only use hen eggs. I am aware this means waiting until the pullet has gone thru its first moult and most want to hatch chicks as soon as possible after getting the birds

After the first moult the pullet becomes a hen - they are not hens until after they turn 1year old or have their first moult (usually the moult is at about 12months old)

chicksalive · **Joined:** Sat Mar 16, 2013 11:33 am **Posts:** 1

Its worked for my silkies I went through a spate of chicks not hatching so I got quite good at helping but I hope to have better and normal hatching in the future

originbreed · **Posted:** Sat Mar 16, 2013 7:16 pm

we had a foster mother hen on some cross breed eggs. when 3 of the 4 eggs had hatched she wasnt too concerned about the last egg.
i went to check it in the afternoon and found it had been broken by the hen and chicks walking on it. i brought it inside and put it under the brooder light where it stayed for about 36 hrs and hatched. it is a barnevelder/malay cross and we have called her chopper.
as she is as tuff as a burnt chop. this cant be classed as helping her out of the egg, but it shows how they can survive if given half a chance.

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