Day 10 and one of my eggs is cracked... What do I do?

[maddogdodge]

Some time today while I was at work, some of my hens broke into my broody hen's nest and laid eggs in her nest. That is fine (I've now fixed the barrier so they can't break in again... However it seems that with hens climbing in and out all day, one of my eggs got cracked

It's just got a few cracks on the side, I candled the egg and can see the chick moving around inside so it is definitely alive... What do I do? Is it likely to die now because of the cracks? Is there anything I can do to stop bacteria entering the egg?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Outpost JWB]

I would just keep a close eye on it. I've seen people use super glue as well as nail polish. I've tried nail polish twice and it did not work either time. My guess is that it will unfortunately die in the egg. Very sorry. It doesn't hurt to just watch progress and maybe the cracks are small enough it won't affect the chick. If you see the chick has died, remove it. I've had an egg explode under a broody and it contaminated and killed the whole brood.

Good luck and please keep us posted.

 

[enola]

Try using liquid skin, it will be in the over the counter section at places like walmart.

 

[maddogdodge]

I would just keep a close eye on it. I've seen people use super glue as well as nail polish. I've tried nail polish twice and it did not work either time. My guess is that it will unfortunately die in the egg. Very sorry. It doesn't hurt to just watch progress and maybe the cracks are small enough it won't affect the chick. If you see the chick has died, remove it. I've had an egg explode under a broody and it contaminated and killed the whole brood.

Good luck and please keep us posted.

Thanks! I'll see how it goes! How do I tell if the chick has died? Will there always be a blood ring? I'll regularly be doing a sniff test to make sure there aren't any bad smells, but still

 

[maddogdodge]

Try using liquid skin, it will be in the over the counter section at places like walmart.

I've never heard of liquid skin... and I live in Australia so we don't have walmart here

 

[enola]

Maybe you could go to a pharmacy and see if they have some thing that you can put over small cuts or abrasions to keep it clean.

 

[WVduckchick]

I've also seen folks use wax to seal up cracks. Melt a candle, and dab some of the melted wax onto the crack with a q-tip or something. Or if the wax is soft enough, you might be able to rub it on the egg and get it to stick, and mold it over the crack. good luck!

 

[Outpost JWB]

I've also seen folks use wax to seal up cracks. Melt a candle, and dab some of the melted wax onto the crack with a q-tip or something. Or if the wax is soft enough, you might be able to rub it on the egg and get it to stick, and mold it over the crack. good luck!

I've seen people use wax as well. But I was thinking that since you have a broody, she will be moving the egg much more than it moves in an incubator, therefore the wax will melt and come off. I could be wrong though. Worth a try. So is the liquid skin. My worry on the liquid skin would also be the moisture factor from the broody keeping it warm and moving it around. I seen where someone used Elmer's glue, but they did not post if the chick made it or not.

 

[WVduckchick]

I've seen people use wax as well. But I was thinking that since you have a broody, she will be moving the egg much more than it moves in an incubator, therefore the wax will melt and come off. I could be wrong though. Worth a try. So is the liquid skin. My worry on the liquid skin would also be the moisture factor from the broody keeping it warm and moving it around. I seen where someone used Elmer's glue, but they did not post if the chick made it or not.

That's a good point

I've tried that liquid skin on myself, and personally, I cannot stand the smell!! Its potent! I don't think I could stand to use the stuff on an egg either.

 

[MeepBeep]

I use plain old white school glue... You can remove the egg, glue it and using a hair dryer on low from a distance or better no heat and blow the glue dry, it only takes a few minutes to skin over then you can return the egg... The short duration cool down won't hurt the egg...