cracked egg! not regular pip. help!

[johari]

Two out of the nine eggs sitting under my hen have hatched. One late last night and one early this morning. When I went out to put some chick feed out there for them mama hopped off the nest to and showed them how to eat. That part was really neat because she was putting food in their mouths.

Then I looked at the eggs still in the nest. One has a huge hole in the fat end. I can see into the egg, see the membrane and behind the membrane is the chick. I can also see that it is still alive, it's moving.

I'm thinking maybe mama pushed the egg around and knocked it on the side of the box or something.

Now I'm asking, should I leave the egg be, or do I need to do something?

 

[subhanalah]

Do you have an incubator? If she's moved the chick's off the nest, you'll either have to let nature take its course or try hatching it in an incubator.

 

[johari]

Oh, she just showed them the food. They ate for a bit and then hurried back to the nest.

I moved the food to where they could reach it without leaving the nest.

 

[johari]

And no, I don't have an incubator.

 

[subhanalah]

If it still hatches, good! Don't be surprised if it doesn't make it. But what a pleasant surprise if it does!

 

[johari]

I was thinking, maybe put a piece of tape over the hole so the membrane doesn't dry out?

I dunno, it's a Buff Brahma, I really don't want to lose it.

 

[subhanalah]

Oh, you can make a cap out of one of the hatched eggs! Or an egg you've emptied and sterilized.

 

[johari]

The current hatched eggs are too small to make a cap. Hmm... I may need to look through my other cleaned shells to see if I have any that would fit.