Are my fertile eggs bad?

[flippyfeets]

Hello!

My hen, Frances, went broody on me so we ordered her 6 fertile eggs (she is bantam partridge cochin). One egg broke in the mail and another egg had a hairline fracture in the shell. We put the hairline crack shell under our hen along with the 4 other eggs that looked great. Everything seemed to be going okay. We thought we could feel something moving in there when we gently rocked the egg back and forth. Well, this morning the egg's hairline crack has gotten wider and wider (~2mm wide) and now it has some yellow-orange stuff that has oozed out of the egg at the crack. I can no longer feel something moving in the shell when I gently rock it back and forth (but my husband says that could be because the baby chick is so large it no longer has room to rock back and forth inside the shell--the hatch date is tomorrow). And the oozy yellow-orange stuff actually stuck to the bottom of Frances and I had to pull the egg off of her feathers surrounding her broody patch. Is this egg worth keeping or do you think we should get rid of it? I have read that if you have a rotten egg it can attract all kinds of insects that can be detrimental to the newly hatched healthy chicks...

Your experienced opinion is greatly appreciated (this is our first hen hatching)!

Lindsey

 

[mrslb333]

Could it be the yolk seeping out? Probably best to discard that one

 

[flippyfeets]

I don't know if it is the yolk...I am so inexperienced at hatching eggs--this is our first nest. The yolk is the only yellow-orange thing I can think of though that is inside the shell.

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

You have a rotten egg. Get rid of it ASAP. I would tell you to hold it up to your nose and you will be able to smell the sulfuric odor of decay inside the egg, but "sometimes" that's when eggs decide would be the best time to blow up.

 

[Mahonri]

Discard the egg.. don't even do an eggtopsy. Carefully place it in a plastic bag, seal and throw away.

 

[Kedreeva]

I know curiosity is one of my best friends and one of my worst enemies, and I wouldn't be able to let the egg go without seeing what's inside. If you want to see what is inside, you can still do an eggtopsy, but do it inside the plastic bag... that way if it explodes or something, it's contained. Cause you will DEFINITELY want it contained if it's a bomb. They stink like things you cannot even imagine when they blow.

Also, if you ever get an egg with a hairline fracture (or the like) there are various ways to first attempt to repair it before putting it under a broody or into the incubator. I think I read a common method being a dab of melted wax. This could help to prevent the bacteria etc that probably got into this particular egg.