Broody hen broke a 2 wk egg....

[momma chickie]

Hi, My broody hen broke a 2 week egg and it made a huge mess of the nest. Without thinking I wiped off one of the eggs with a damp paper towel and then realized I probably did more harm then good...do I just leave the eggs with the gunky stuff on them and hope for the best or is there a way to safely clean them?

 

[Birdie mom]

You could probably wipe the gunk off the eggs with a damp cloth safely. I am not totally sure but I know that if you leave it on the egg it will close the pores in the shell and suffocate the chick.

 

[jolenesdad]

I’ve had eggs explode under broodies. You can remove as much from the nest as possible and wipe the eggs with something dry if you think it’s necessary however the broody’s actions of rolling and rubbing the eggs will clean the eggs off and keep the bloom intact. All will be fine!

 

[momma chickie]

I’ve had eggs explode under broodies. You can remove as much from the nest as possible and wipe the eggs with something dry if you think it’s necessary however the broody’s actions of rolling and rubbing the eggs will clean the eggs off and keep the bloom intact. All will be fine!

Thank you...I have peeked and some of the eggs look much better now. I did clean the box and put in new bedding (dry bermuda grass) so that probably helps...the egg that broke looked it was a developing egg but there was still a good bit of yoke...
not sure if the chick had died and that is why it broke or if my hen that keeps wanting to sit on the broody hens eggs actually broke it...we will never know. I did wipe the underside of the hen off and then she promptly went and took a good dust bath.
I guess I will know next week how it went.

 

[jolenesdad]

Thank you...I have peeked and some of the eggs look much better now. I did clean the box and put in new bedding (dry bermuda grass) so that probably helps...the egg that broke looked it was a developing egg but there was still a good bit of yoke...
not sure if the chick had died and that is why it broke or if my hen that keeps wanting to sit on the broody hens eggs actually broke it...we will never know. I did wipe the underside of the hen off and then she promptly went and took a good dust bath.
I guess I will know next week how it went.

If the chick died and it exploded, well, you would smell it outside the coop.

how many eggs is she on? It could have just been a weak egg shell.

 

[momma chickie]

There were 12 eggs...it didn't stink...the shell seemed pretty sturdy, just had a big hole in it so like I said, it may have gotten broke by the hens tasseling in the box or she broke it and was eating it...we had some broken egg issues and we never quite knew why...but then we have crows that would go in when the hens started cackling...but we suspected one of our hens was breaking and eating...but then it stopped.

 

[momma chickie]

the hatching has started. So far 4 very healthy chicks!

 

[momma chickie]

1 more started pipping but when the egg gets turned sticky, goes stuff comes ot...no smell but some looks like yoke and egg whites...the chicks mouth moves but I don't hear peeping sounds...one piped and died yesterday...when I took the shell off it had an opening into the rear of the body that had something sticking out...not sure what it was. I am thinking that there us some developmental issues. Perhaps from the broken egg contaminating it?

 

[momma chickie]

So I ended up with 5 out of the remaining 11 eggs hatching healthy chicks. The one pipping in the picture didn't make it out.