Hey all. I have two silkies who have been sitting on a nest for about a month. They have two chicks, and decided that their remaining eggs weren't going to hatch & abandoned the nest today. The eggs were cold and scattered around in the dirt. I decided to check the eggs just to be sure they were dead before tossing them. One of the eggs was sloshy when I shook it, so I just discarded that one. The other egg felt "full" so I cracked it at the air sack and gently peeled back the shell. I saw a chick wrapped in it's membrane, with veins around it, but not moving at all. A little blood came out, as the shell caught the membrane when I peeled it back. I figured the chick was a late quitter, but I was wrong - it wiggled inside it's shell, and again when I gently touched it. It's alive! I have never actually found a live chick inside the eggs that I check (I always check eggs before discarding them, just to be sure). I don't know if it's going to survive, especially considering it bled and & still has veins around it. I put a warm, damp gauze over the broken area of the shell to help retain moisture, and am warming up my incubator right now. I will put the egg in there with the gauze over it, and hope for the best. I don't expect it'll survive, but is there anything I can do to help improve it's odds? On the off chance that it does make it, when should I expect it to emerge from the shell?
I woke up the next morning and it was no longer moving. Very sad, but I can't say I was surprised.
