Tiel Breeders - Assisted Hatch

Assisting a hatch is always risky. There are still veins running through the membranes until shortly before the chick hatches. Assisting too soon can cause hemorrhaging (bleeding) and, if that happens, in most cases the chick will not survive.

The following photos and commentary are NOT intended to be a guide to assisting a hatch. If you suspect a chick may need assistance please contact your vet.

In this particular egg, the chick was stuck to the membrane which had dried out. The chick was unable to turn within the egg to crack the shell as it would in a normal hatch.


Here you can see most of the baby covered by the white, dried membrane, except for the beak which can be seen in the hole in the membrane at the top of the hole made in the eggshell.	This is the baby after the membrane has been moistened to check for veins before doing anything further.

Here the membrane and more of the eggshell has been removed. The white egg tooth can be seen on the beak. To the left of the beak is the 'elbow' of the wing, and to the right is a 'knee'.	With enough of the shell removed the baby starts to free itself from the eggshell. The baby should be allowed to finish getting out of the eggshell on it's own if possible.

Now the baby is nearly free from the shell. One tiny foot can be seen on the edge of the eggshell helping to push it off.	And here is the baby about 6 hours after hatching with it's down dried and fluffy.