Broken Egg with Living Chick Inside! How to Proceed???

[DarkWater1929]

Hello, and thank you so much for being here! I have a wonderful little hen, who I just adore, sitting on a bunch of eggs. They must be very close to being ready to hatch, but unfortunately, I didn't keep track of the date she began.

This morning, when she got off the nest to do her business, I saw that one of the eggs was broken. It has a large hole in it. Not at all the kind of hole that would come from it having pipped. Because I smelled an old egg, I removed the broken one, thinking that it must be the rotten one. But it was not. I can see the chick, quite clearly, moving underneath the membrane.

The membrane was about half dried so I took a moist cloth, and wiped it a little bit to try to prevent shrink wrap. So far as I can tell, none of the other eggs have pipped. I have this egg in a little plastic box, with a lid, sitting on a heating pad. I am afraid to put it back in, with mom, because in the box, I don't think it will fit under her; and without the box, I'm sure she will crush it.

I very much would like the baby to survive, because it has so bravely gotten this far! Does anyone have any suggestion on how I might give it the best chance of reaching maturity, if it hasn't already, and properly hatching? Thank you in advance!

 

[Jules66]

Hello, and thank you so much for being here! I have a wonderful little hen, who I just adore, sitting on a bunch of eggs. They must be very close to being ready to hatch, but unfortunately, I didn't keep track of the date she began.

This morning, when she got off the nest to do her business, I saw that one of the eggs was broken. It has a large hole in it. Not at all the kind of hole that would come from it having pipped. Because I smelled an old egg, I removed the broken one, thinking that it must be the rotten one. But it was not. I can see the chick, quite clearly, moving underneath the membrane.

The membrane was about half dried so I took a moist cloth, and wiped it a little bit to try to prevent shrink wrap. So far as I can tell, none of the other eggs have pipped. I have this egg in a little plastic box, with a lid, sitting on a heating pad. I am afraid to put it back in, with mom, because in the box, I don't think it will fit under her; and without the box, I'm sure she will crush it.

View attachment 2719774I very much would like the baby to survive, because it has so bravely gotten this far! Does anyone have any suggestion on how I might give it the best chance of reaching maturity, if it hasn't already, and properly hatching? Thank you in advance!

How many days have they been under her? And do you have an incubator?

 

[Jules66]

How many days have they been under her? And do you have an incubator?

Sorry, just read you don't know how long. This is a LONG SHOT. The only thing I can think of. Lightly coat coconut oil on the membrane. Soften some paraffin wax. Cover as much of the hole as you can, let it harden and get it back under her quickly. Don't put hot wax on the egg, just soften it stretch it and gently cover as much as you can safely spread around it. And pray. But sometimes chicks just don't make it. My last hatch was painful. One fully formed chick simply died right before hatch day. In fact, one out of eighteen survived. Horrible.

 

[Jules66]

Hello, and thank you so much for being here! I have a wonderful little hen, who I just adore, sitting on a bunch of eggs. They must be very close to being ready to hatch, but unfortunately, I didn't keep track of the date she began.

This morning, when she got off the nest to do her business, I saw that one of the eggs was broken. It has a large hole in it. Not at all the kind of hole that would come from it having pipped. Because I smelled an old egg, I removed the broken one, thinking that it must be the rotten one. But it was not. I can see the chick, quite clearly, moving underneath the membrane.

The membrane was about half dried so I took a moist cloth, and wiped it a little bit to try to prevent shrink wrap. So far as I can tell, none of the other eggs have pipped. I have this egg in a little plastic box, with a lid, sitting on a heating pad. I am afraid to put it back in, with mom, because in the box, I don't think it will fit under her; and without the box, I'm sure she will crush it.

View attachment 2719774I very much would like the baby to survive, because it has so bravely gotten this far! Does anyone have any suggestion on how I might give it the best chance of reaching maturity, if it hasn't already, and properly hatching? Thank you in advance!

Another idea: it must have relative humidity around 65%, so wet a paper towel, fold it tightly place in box, close the box,wrap the thing in a heating pad on low. Let us know what happens!

 

[DarkWater1929]

How many days have they been under her? And do you have an incubator?

I don't know how many days they've been under her. I didn't take note of the date when she began. I sure wish I had now! No, I don't have an incubator. The best I can do, I think, is this heating pad. In the alternative, it had occurred to me to put the oven on low which would be about 170, leave the door open, and set the box on the door? Does that make any sense? I just don't know how to get the temperature right, and I also don't want to dry out the egg too much.

 

[Jules66]

I don't know how many days they've been under her. I didn't take note of the date when she began. I sure wish I had now! No, I don't have an incubator. The best I can do, I think, is this heating pad. In the alternative, it had occurred to me to put the oven on low which would be about 170, leave the door open, and set the box on the door? Does that make any sense? I just don't know how to get the temperature right, and I also don't want to dry out the egg too much.

Yeah, the oven would be a mistake. They only need to be 99.5 F. I think the heating pad idea is best, but make sure the humidity is supported with the paper towel.