# Hatch Day at The Urban Rescue Ranch: Eggs, Chicks and an Emu

> Ben Christie shows hatching day at The Urban Rescue Ranch, including when he helps a chick, a new coop he built and an emu that straightened out.

**By:** John McGillie  
**Published:** November 7, 2026

---

This is a May 2022 video from The Urban Rescue Ranch in which Ben Christie spends a morning on hatching duty.

Chicks are hatching in the incubator. Ben puts a little water on one egg to help it along, and says if a chick cannot get out in the next two hours he will start to help. Not every egg works out, and he says so plainly. He also shows a coop he built himself that still needs insulation, and an emu that has straightened out well.

Chapters cover checking the chicken eggs, improving habitats, caring for rescued chickens and more successful hatchings. The title about not being the father is a joke. What I like is the rule he sets: wait first, help second.

Ben Christie's channel, The Urban Rescue Ranch, has about 3.4 million subscribers, and his nonprofit is [Waco Wildlife Rescue](https://wacowildliferescue.org/), which rehabilitates injured and orphaned native wildlife. 100% of merch proceeds fund the mission, and donations go through the site. A subscribe on his channel is a tiny, free way to say thanks.

When a baby bird is struggling out of its egg, would you step in?

Every Bit Texas has no association with The Urban Rescue Ranch or Waco Wildlife Rescue.

---

**About the author:** John McGillie is a pen name, used for safety after threats of violence. I grew up in Wishek, North Dakota, and moved to Texas 20 years ago. I write about the history, food and back roads I keep finding along the way.

---

_Read the full article at [everybittexas.com/posts/hatch-day-at-the-urban-rescue-ranch-eggs-chicks-and-an-emu](https://everybittexas.com/posts/hatch-day-at-the-urban-rescue-ranch-eggs-chicks-and-an-emu)_

[← All Posts](https://everybittexas.com/posts/index.md)