Day 23 now. Cracked egg from under broody hen. What to do? Advice appreciated.

[MargaretYakoda]

This evening, when I was letting our broody out for her poop, I checked her eggs very quickly and discovered that at some point in the last couple days this egg developed this crack. It may have happened today as the membranes are still very white. I candled to check for an internal pip and I didn't see one. The egg's (possibly?) on day 19 right now, and is on the small side so it may be one of our bantam brahma eggs.
We happen to be incubating some Jersey Giant eggs at the moment, so I brought this little one in and put it in the incubator to keep it from being further damaged. But the incubator's at least a week away from lockdown, so if this baby's still viable, humidity is going to be an issue.
There's a lot of territory to cover with nail polish. Are there any other suggestions?
Especially since the membrane appears to have a tiny hole in it. Nail polish won't fix that, will it?
And especially not if that's an actual pip, which I don't think it is... but maybe? I would expect a pip would be protruding, or at least flush with the shell, not dented in as this crack is.

 

[MargaretYakoda]

Also, if it's not on day 19, then it's on day 17, as a certain family member thought he was doing the right thing when he tucked two extra eggs under our broody two days in, and didn't think to tell me until two days after that.... And of course, he didn't mark them. But he did note that one of the eggs was really small, so probably a banty egg.

 

[MargaretYakoda]

bump

 

[Polkadots]

Hiya. I personally have no idea, but read another thread on here where someone put candle wax on any cracked eggs and removed it on day 18. There's a long thread with different ideas here

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/189989/will-my-cracked-egg-still-hatch

Day 19 is so close, I hope he makes it

 

[MargaretYakoda]

Well, I've still got the cracked egg in the incubator. The eggs under our broody still haven't pipped as far as I can tell. I haven't gone and examined closely, though. I think the egg's too far along to wax. I candled earlier this morning and didn't see an internal pip yet, so I've left it in the incubator. When the eggs under the broody start hatching I think I'll slip this one back under her and hope for the best.

 

[MargaretYakoda]

Hiya. I personally have no idea, but read another thread on here where someone put candle wax on any cracked eggs and removed it on day 18. There's a long thread with different ideas here

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/189989/will-my-cracked-egg-still-hatch

Day 19 is so close, I hope he makes it

Thank you Polkadots for that link.
I candled the egg again an hour ago and saw movement. I also saw a spot of blood had leaked out by the edge of the crack. So, the chick's alive for now.
I ran to the store and picked up the only antibiotic ointment that didn't have Neomycin in it. I'll wait for a bit and see if I get any feedback about it's safety, then I'll put it on the crack.
I'll have to figure a way to keep this egg from drying out while the incubator's going full tilt with eggs that aren't on lockdown. I don't want to raise the humidity too much and harm the other eggs. Maybe I could use a bit of damp paper towel?

 

[MargaretYakoda]

I didn't get any feedback about the safety of the Polysporin, so, since it's what I've got, and there's zero chance of getting anything else right now, I went ahead and put it on the crack. That was an hour or so ago. I candled once more before I put the ointment on and boy was that chick kicking! LOL! When I put the egg back in the incubator she kicked herself over a quarter roll. And she's been kicking a bit here and there ever since.
With luck maybe she'll pip and kick herself out of the egg by morning. It'll be day 21 in less than an hour, so she's due.

 

[MargaretYakoda]

Candled again and reapplied the Polysporin. Haven't seen an internal or external pip (yet) but she's still moving. Hatch expected today. Unless it's one of the eggs that was mistakenly placed under our broody two days after the others. In that case hatch is expected on Wednesday. But day-um I really hope it's today. I'll check again in a couple hours.

 

[chickensnbees]

I have never had anything like this happen but I wanted to offer any encouragement I could. Regarding humidity and the other eggs, in my opinion as long as the membrane stays moist you should be okay. I moved eggs into lockdown the other day a few hours early. Several eggs chirped at me while I was moving them. I ran to the store to buy more sponges since all my hatching sponges were being used by the last slow poke duck from the previous hatch. By the time I returned, 4 had pipped, zipped, and we're stumbling around the bator. All this in less than an hour. Ambient humidity was 30%. I think you should be okay as long as the possible exposed parts of the membrane are covered in the ointment for moisture. Good luck!

 

[Zombified]

Following this thread.