Can I Help A Chick Out Of Its Shell? What You Should Know

There’s nothing more exciting than watching a new life emerge from an egg. This is a process called hatching, in which the chick breaks through its shell and begins to take its first breath of air.

At this moment, it will make certain sounds that are meant as alerts for the hen to come and protect her newly hatched chick.

Can you help speed up the hatching process? Should you help? Through my experience and research, I dive into this issue.

Can I help a chick out of its shell? When you have fertile eggs in the incubator, it is not a good idea to intervene in the hatching process. It can take up to 24 hours for a chick to emerge from the shell after pipping. It is not a cause for concern if your chick hasn’t broken out of the shell before then.

If 24 hours have passed your chick could be stuck to the dried membrane inside the eggshell. The reason you don’t want to help a chick out of a shell if at all possible is because you could cause the baby chick to bleed to death by removing it from the shell to early. 

The healthy strong chicks are the ones that hatch by themselves. Sick or weak chicks may not be able to survive the hatching process, but usually, it’s best just to let nature take its course.

If you want to take the risk no matter what. Then the chick should have broken free of the shell at least 75% of the way before attempting to help.

Baby Chicks Hatching Process

Incubating chicken eggs is a 21-day process whether a mother hen is laying on them to keep them warm or if they are in an incubator. Baby chicks will start to emerge from the eggshell at this point.

The baby chicken has a long journey before it can hatch. During the hatching process, the chick moves its beak toward the air sac with its head back at around 18 days.

The chick must eat the rest of the yolk inside its egg so that it will have the energy to grow. This will give it the best chance to live outside its shell.

At day 20, the chick pokes a hole in the membrane holding them inside their own eggshell and begins making a peeping sound. As soon as they are able, on day 21, they start to break out of their shell using their egg tooth. 

Can you hear a chick inside an egg? 

Once the chick pierces the membrane and breathers air from the air chamber for the first time you may hear peeping. The chick will then start to make a hole in the shell. This is known as pipping.

How long does it take for a chick to break out of its shell?

A chick will break out of its shell between 12 and 24 hours. When the chick starts to pip, you know that the chick will be breaking out from its shell very soon.

The chick will tap furiously on the shell with this egg tooth until it breaks free from its inside. At this point it experiences the outside world for the first time.

What is an egg tooth?

A hard white object on the beak of an embryonic bird, the egg tooth is used for breaking out of a shell and it is lost later on.

What is pipping in hatching eggs?

The hole made by that pecking beak gradually expands until finally it zips and breaks through to freedom. This is what is known as pipping.

A new life begins with the sound of cracking eggshells in the nest. As pipping occurs and an eager hatchling makes its way out into the world for the very first time.

How long after an egg pips should it hatch?

The egg’s pipping is a beautiful process. It takes patience and time, but it doesn’t take long before the little chick finally hatches. In some cases, the pipping can take up to eighteen hours before the chick has hatched.

Rest assured – this process is a normal one that will inevitably have you with an adorable little ball of fluff in your lap!

What happens if you help a chick out of its shell?

If you help a chick out of a shell too soon it could bleed to death. You could also damage its delicate body by pulling it from the shell.

This is because it may not be ready to fully hatch or there could something wrong with it preventing it from hatching properly. It is best to let the chick break free from the shell all by its self.

How do you tell if a chick has died in the egg?

When you hear tapping, it means that the chicks are ready to hatch and maybe trying to break out of their egg.

To check whether they have died or not, look for a clear space under the air cell of the egg. If it is blotchy and lumpy then they are most likely dead. If they look full then they could still be alive.

Can it take longer than 21 days for a chick to hatch?

The timing of a chick’s hatching is not always predictable. It depends on many factors, such as the age of the eggs, if the mother hen is healthy, or if there are fluctuations in temperature while in an incubator.

Some chicks may hatch before 21 days while others may take even longer to break through their eggshells. Don’t give up hope on your chicks until 26 days have passed since they were set in your incubator!

What is a shrink-wrapped chick?

Shrink Wrapping is a term used to describe when the chick’s membrane has dried for it, oftentimes in the case of humidity issues. It can also happen if the chick pips its shell and doesn’t hatch quick enough or if an incubator becomes breached during hatching.

In many cases the chick is not strong enough to break through the eggshell.

Will eggs still hatch if they get cold?

Eggs that have been subjected to freezing conditions are highly unlikely to hatch. They will suffer from damaged internal structures. Incubation will need warm stable temperatures and the right humidity level for baby chicks to hatch.

If you want chicks wait until spring to hatch some or buy some baby chicks and skip the process egg hatching process entirely.

To Sum It Up

Avoid removing a chick from the egg if at all possible. It is a big risk to remove the chick from the eggshell unless you are very experienced in the process.

There are many ways that you can do this, some of which may result in death for the baby bird. That’s why you should let nature take its course.