Cracked open a viable egg! NO!!!!

[buddhabrahma905]

I cracked open a viable egg on day 10 mistakenly thinking it was a quitter and was appalled to find a beautiful embryo inside. I can't get the thought of that poor baby struggling for air out of my mind and need some way to ease the guilt. I wish there were some way to save it or that I didn't do it.

 

[IceAngel]

Guilt is a sharp knife. Don't beat yourself up. It's a lesson well learned. Try to remember what made you think it was a quitter and when you come across a similar embryo formation put it in the "unsure" pile.
When candling, if I come across an egg that I am unsure of that's what I do. Then I re-candle it every few days to see if there has been more development.

I don't think there is anything you can do once you have broken open the shell prematurely. If it was close to hatch you can wrap it in a warm damp paper towel and put it back into the incubator and hope for the best.

 

[jujubean99]

Oh, I am so sorry. That is so terribly hard to handle! Every chicken owner knows what it's like to make a mistake and lose a creature under their care- whether its forgetting to close the gate and night and a raccoon massacre occurs, your dog getting out and killing your birds, or any number of things. It was an honest mistake, and I am sure you'll never make it again- but its hard not to feel bad.
What I do when I make a mistake like that and cost one of my precious birds their life- I rescue something! I look for ads on craigslist or elsewhere for people giving away chickens who don't seem to care what happens to them and I give them a forever home- that way I can at least know that I have saved this chicken from a potentially disastrous life with someone who would have killed it or given it an otherwise sad and unhappy life. Spread the love, save a life in honor of that baby!

 

[buddhabrahma905]

I think instead of rescuing another chicken I'll just put my all into the 9 remaining eggs.

 

[buddhabrahma905]

The embryo had its heart on the outside, is that normal?

 

[chickengeorgeto]

The heart on most animals begins development outside of the body cavity. However i do question if this egg was broken out on day 10.

 

[buddhabrahma905]

The heart on most animals begins development outside of the body cavity. However i do question if this egg was broken out on day 10.

Yeah the rest of the chick was normal and it had huge eyes so idk what to think

 

[AmyLynn2374]

I think the majority of us have at one time, especially in the beginning opened an egg we thought was a quitter to find that we were wrong and have had to deal with that guilt, so know that you are not alone. I did it my very first hatch. Now, I only remove clears and blood rings (and unquestionable easy to see no active veins early quitters.) My policy is as long as they don't smell they stay in until the end of the hatch. If I think there's a possibility they have quite I will mark it with a ? and try to set it away from the other eggs if possible. As far as development, this chart might help you:

 

[buddhabrahma905]

Good policy. And yeah thats really helpful thank you!

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Good policy. And yeah thats really helpful thank you!

You're welcome.