I don't recommend helping but its always your call. It can take up to 30 hours from pip to hatch. but usually when i can see a beak the chick is improperly positioned in the shell and is having a hard time getting out. Sometimes they make it sometimes they don't. I've heard of people having a repeated success helping out hatches. Myself, I found that I ended up losing/euthanizing a large percentage of the chicks who were helped out. Again however, your call.It is so cold here in Va. Only one egg is starting and I see the beak. So I should not bother to help? I lost quite a few last summer because I suppose they exhausted themselves. Never had one brood in the winter.