Broken shell before hatch.

[Neffer tweety]

One of our girls is sitting on 6 eggs! One has hatched and is doing well. We have a second that looked like it had piped. However, we took a flashlight and looked in and the chick hasn't even broken through the membrane to the air sack. Our concern now is the membrane will dry out and the chick will not be able to break through. Not sure how the shell broke open to begin with. We dampened a napkin and placed it over the hole for moisture. Chick is/was moving and alive. We placed the egg back under Mom. Any ideas on keeping the membrane moist?
Thank you!

 

[sumi]

It sounds like the chick may be malpositioned in the egg and pipped at the wrong end? You can check the pip site and see if the chick's beak is there and keep the site open and clear, so it can breathe! It should be humid enough under the broody hen, but I'd keep an eye on it over the next day or two and see how it does.

 

[Neffer tweety]

I wish I could say it was malpositioned. From what we can tell it seems to have been damaged in the nest. We can see the yolk has not been absorbed. Last night it was cracked more. We are trying to keep what's left of the membrane moist. The chick is still alive. We are keeping a close eye as Mom did push the egg out at one point. She seems fine when we put it back. Hoping the yolk will absorb soon!