Broken shell, chick is still alive

[jauslong]

I posted a little while back about a problem I've been having with my chickens. Last year, they brooded and hatched 9 chicks themselves with no problem. No supervision needed. Then I was able to get them out of broody mode and all was good.

This year, a few of them went broody, they sat on eggs that never hatched. Some eggs exploded, gross, likely killing more eggs with bacteria. We used to have enough eggs to give to friends, but now we barely get any. Because of my travel schedule, its not really practical to separate the chickens out, I kind of have to let them do their thing. I just wish "their thing" was hatching eggs and raising chicks, rather than crushing eggs, and throwing out viable eggs from their nestboxes.

Anyway, It took a while, but I was eventually able to devise a system to let them keep trying, but also take some fresh eggs of my own by keep tracking of which nests had "new" eggs and which had been sat on.

Something in the system broke down this weekend. I don't know how this egg got into the "safe" pile, but I cracked it open in the kitchen to make an omelete, and the membrane was super difficult to get through. I have a light touch when cracking eggs, because I like the yolk to stay intact. Well, I stick my finger in towards the eggs, and, WHOA, I could feel there was something hard in there. So, I figured, OK great, I have another cross dead chick egg on my hands. Eitherway, I'd not something I care to eat. Then, I saw a couple drops of blood come out of the membrane, and then, IT MOVED!!!

So, after being at a near loss for what to do next, I put it in a glass bowl, set it up under a heat lamp, regulated the temp to about 100 degrees and put a damp towel over it. That was two days ago and the little guy in this egg is still moving, seems OK. The membrane is almost completely intact. I moisten it occasionally.

So, now Ive got this egg where you can basically see into it, separating the chick from the outside by only a thin sheet, and I'm trying to get him/her to hatch.

Any tips or ideas? I cant even tell how old the damn egg is. The egg is too damaged for me to pick up to candle it. It bends and heaves when the chick moves, and seems like I would break it if I handled it any more than I already have.

On a related note, once he hatches, I'm thinking I will have to incubate it myself, since I've now found two dead chicks and no live chicks in the coop. So I'm guessing someone is killing them. Never even saw them alive. Kind of seems like this chick that nearly ended up in my pan has a better chance than the eggs in the coop do. Thoughts?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I have read about scientists raising an embryo outside of an egg. All things are possible.
It will need the appropriate temperature and oxygen. Humidity is a moot point outside the membrane.

 

[Shamo Hybrid]

Put clear plastic wrap over the bowl and put a lamp on it. And where are the pics?

 

[MontanaChickDoc]

I am a HUGE proponent of beeswax. I was in the exact same situation as you - got a broody's egg mixed in with the eating eggs - husband went to crack it for scrambled eggs (thank god we didn't do hard boiled that morning) and it went "cheep cheep cheep". He screamed (like a little girl) dumped the egg into the bowl of already cracked eggs, and took off running out of the kitchen. I sighed, picked it out, rinsed it -- there was a little blood leaking out -- and sealed all the cracks with melted beeswax. Popped it in the incubator with VERY low expectations - and it hatched the next day! So I definitely think if you seal the cracks with melted beeswax, the little fellow might be OK. BTW, we named her "SuSu" for Sunny Side Up

 

[MontanaChickDoc]

I have also used the melted beeswax on dropped eggs (when I was clumsy candling on day 10) and stepped on but not crushed eggs - 100% success rate with 5 "saves" in various states of brokenness (from a small dent to 80% cracked shell). Believe me, an egg shell can be pretty dang busted up but still hatch OK. Of course, all but #5 had an intact inner membrane, so there was minimal contamination and no bleeding BUT even #5, who was on day 20 I guess before being almost breakfast, did OK. I think too beeswax must have some antimicrobial properties, better than just regular candle wax. I think if you act promptly and seal quickly, it stands a better chance than if you find it hours later. In my case, the breakage was either my fault, or I heard it happen when the hen jumped off the nest (startled by me so still my fault), or the egg cheeped when cracked on the side of a bowl.

 

[jauslong]

I took a video his morning, but its too big to upload. I'll take a pic tonight. I saw melted wax suggested, but the amount of missing shell is too big I think. It's about 40% of the shell missing.

 

[jauslong]

Any idea how I could estimate how soon it will hatch? The chick seemed like it occupies most of the length of the egg.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Put clear plastic wrap over the bowl and put a lamp on it. And where are the pics?

If one places clear plastic over the bowl, the embryo won't be able to get oxygen and will suffocate.

 

[Shamo Hybrid]

If one places clear plastic over the bowl, the embryo won't be able to get oxygen and will suffocate.

Uhhhhh..... poke a few holes through it.

 

[jauslong]

Chick hatched this morning!!!! When I went to work, he was drying out and trying to get his umbilical cord to detach from the egg.

He appears to be healthy, but I guess it's too soon to say. Now I have the problem of having only one chick, and he is going to get awful lonely. I'd like to introduce him to a broody hen, but I think someone in the coop is murdering chicks, and I'm kind of invested in this one making it. I'm thinking of putting the broody in a crate with the chick and hopefully they will bond some.