Cracked Egg?

[duckboatprincess]

I am on day four. All 12 of my eggs show development which shocks me. My bator has had some serious temp fluctuations, but everything is developing. I checked yesterday and couldn't see anything so I know that this is new.

Egg #6 is cracked. I didn't notice it until I candled it, but now I can see it. Should I just toss the egg or what? It looks fine other than that and is developing but I don't know if it will survive. Any advice?

 

[FenDruadin]

I would leave it. It probably won't make it to hatch day, because the crack allows bacteria easy access, and it may dehydrate more than the others. But, the worst that can happen is that you lose it... and you'll definitely lose it if you chuck it now. Do keep an eye on it, though, because if it does go bad you need to throw it out before it explodes and contaminates your incubator.

I just had a duckling hatch from a cracked egg, but I cracked it by accident about four days before it hatched, so it didn't have long to go with the crack. Still, I think there's a chance yours will be just fine, and there's not much to lose by leaving it be.

Good luck!

 

[Paganbird]

I have 2 cracked eggs going into lockdown right now.
I patched them with nail polish. Some people use candle wax (light a birthday candle & drip it on) but the polish is working fine, so far!
Mine were cracked when I set them. I candle all eggs before setting them specifically to look for things such as cracks.
If you're curious & don't mind a bit of page-flipping, check out the link in my sig line. On pg 18 (maybe, I think) are pics of my cracked eggs being candled.
Good Luck!

ETA: if it goes through the entire incubation with the crack (not patched), chances are it will lose too much humidity & not make it to hatch.

 

[duckboatprincess]

Oh okay. So should I put wax on it or just nail polish?

 

[Paganbird]

The nail polish was easier for me... and didn't seem to have any negative effects.
Make sure you "candle it" while you apply the polish. Shine the light through (better if you have a helper) to make sure you cover ALL the crack with one layer of polish. I'd use clear, if you have it.

 

[Chicks_N_Horses]

I had a very precious lav orp egg from hinkjc crack as I was turning them in the bator...I actually dropped a cochin egg on it. I panicked LOL I put clear nail polish on it and it hatched out!!

Try wax, it will not smell like the nail polish. I just didn't have any candles that day.

Good Luck!


My crack looked like this:

 

[Paganbird]

I don't know if you can see the crack in the egg, but the EE egg has a crack the entire way around it (girthing the egg) and 2 dents. (from shipping) The grey coloring is the nail polish.

The little mille fleur d'uccle had a dent & a longer crack coming from the dent.

These were taken at 5 days, I believe. They're the ones in lockdown now.

 

[duckboatprincess]

I'm going to try to get a picture of the egg. This might not work out so hot, so if you hear some cussing and what not... cover your ears lol!! Hold on a sec!

 

[duckboatprincess]

Okay... it's a lot harder than I thought it would be to get a decent picture! Anyways, you can see the cracks.

 

[Paganbird]

That's what my little MF egg looked like.
It's the 2nd pic I posted.
Just make sure you cover the entire crack with polish or wax and it should do fine.

I candled earlier,before lockdown & I could see a little foot!
Good Luck!