Abstract
T here are times when the only way to save a chick is to give Mother Nature a helping hand and assist the hatching process. Assuming that all will go well and that the chick will successfully hatch from the egg is not realistic in all situations. Knowing when to assist and taking appropriate action in a timely manner is sometimes the only recourse to save a chick.
With Cockatiels the most common situation that requires assistance is when a chick is trapped in the shell due to low humidity. Other
causes include the parents attempting to help the chick out of the egg too early, opening an egg too soon, or breaking an egg during the early pipping stage.
Over the years I have perfected my method for assisting hatches, and assisted-hatch losses have been cut to five percent or less. First, I'll cover the easiest way to assist a hatch, and then a unique emergency procedure to get the yolk sac to draw into the body when the assisted hatch is attempted too early, or a new hatch is found in the nest with part of the yolk sac still outside the body.
Tools
The tools you will need are simple and basic. All that is needed initially is a candler, a darkroom, a fine-tip permanent marker, and a small cup or container on heat for monitoring an egg. Once you start assisting the hatching process, you will also need Q-tips, distilled water, and Pedialyte if the chick looks dehydrated. Another thing you definitely will need is patience. Trying to rush things is the leading cause of accidents and deaths. On assist hatches where the blood and yolk are still not absorbed it can take up to 24 hours of carefully monitoring the baby until it is fully ready to emerge from the shell.
Know Your Air Cell
Probably the most important thing to know is the size of the air cell of the egg of the species you will be working with. Midway through incubation, candle a clutch of eggs to see the approximate average size of the air cell, which is the upper quarter of the egg.
This knowledge will be a good visual guide for you to use when any unusual changes in the size of the air cell occur as the egg nears hatching or starts to pip. With low humidity, that air cell will get larger in size. With excessive humidity the air cell will decrease in size. By observing air cells, you will discover that the majority of DIS (dead in shell) egg problems occur in the low
humidity category.
Pipping
When you candle the egg prior to pip, the solid mass where the chick is located in the egg will appear to be an even line around the egg, and have a dull red-orange look, with visible veining right up to the edge. NEVER attempt to assist at this stage! When the baby pips (or breaks into the air cell) you will be able to see that a portion of the solid mass is lower, which is where the chick's beak and head is located. At the first external pip, or break of the outer shell, place a small black dot with the permanent marker to mark the beginning of the pip. Over a 24+ hour period of time you should be able to see, or lightly feel with a fingernail tip, a weakness in the shell going counter-clockwise around the egg. Between candling and monitoring the egg, you can place it back with the parents. If you found it off to the side in the nest, replace it to that location. If you removed it from under the birds, put it back under them. The only time you will not return an egg to the nest is once you have removed part of the shell. Then you will need to keep it in a small container or cup with heat.
Temperature
The minimum temperature that I prefer is approximately 95-97° F. The reason for the lowered temperature is that heating and cool down tend to be just as much a stimulant as if a chick were moving in the egg. Since I use the membrane to prevent the chick from turning, the slight chilling stimulates movement for both warmth and circulation of blood during the drawing in of blood and then the yolk.
Candling
You also will be candling, specifically looking at the place on the egg where the air cell and solid mass meet. If you see prominent red veins, the chick has not drawn in the blood, and it is too soon to assist. When most of the blood is
drawn in this area will look orangish in color, with very faint lines from the collapsed veining. You will know that a chick is definitely trapped when you can see that the veins have collapsed but the chick has not progressed more than 1/ 4 to 1/3 of the distance around the egg from where that first black dot was placed in a 24-hour period.