Apparently my broody abandoned the nest (3 eggs) to adopt a runt from another hatch. I found her this morning brooding over the tiny chick and her eggs were very cold. Having no idea when she got off the nest I left them alone with the intention of sending my husband out to collect and dispose of them this evening. I beat him home and went out to the hen house and collected the eggs and practically juggled them as I headed toward the garbage... then I heard the chirp! Held them to my ear and there's chirping and scratching in all 3! I noticed one had a small chip in the shell and the membrane was pretty dry
I put the runty chick in a brooder box in my laundry room, returned the eggs to the nest and moved my broody back to the nest box to warm up those eggs! Now what? Do I need to worry about the membrane on the broken egg? Do I just leave them alone and hope for the best?
