day 8 under broody hen - hairline fractures in eggs - keep incubating or toss?

[TylerEngland]

hello and sorry if this has already been addressed - I couldn't find any other posts addressing this.

long story short, I ordered 8 Swedish flowery hen hatching eggs online. today is day 8 of incubation and I decided to candle out of curiosity. Of the 5 eggs that are developing well, two of them have small hairline fractures (one with a single, longer line that partially circumnavigates the egg, and the other with multiple spiderweb fractures in a couple different places). The fractures can barely be seen without candling and the membranes seem in-tact.

For now I have carefully placed scotch tape over the cracks, as minimally as I could, but I'm wondering if the liability of leaving them under the hen is worth it, especially this early on.

also, is it to be expected to have some cracked eggs under a broody? The nesting box is padded and soft, and the broody seems pretty gentle with the eggs...and she isn't being disturbed by the other chickens. the eggs appear to be from the same layer so I'm wondering if they were just too thin-shelled : /

 

[sdm111]

Clear fingernail polish then let it get sticky then rub dirt over it so it wont be sticky anymore. Theyll be ok

 

[TylerEngland]

Clear fingernail polish then let it get sticky then rub dirt over it so it wont be sticky anymore. Theyll be ok

oh! wonderful tip! thank you for your encouragement, I will try that.

 

[bird bites my feet 4 fun]

yep as long as the membrane isn't damaged and there is no leakage should be all good, good thinking using the scotch tape by the way

 

[TylerEngland]

yep as long as the membrane isn't damaged and there is no leakage should be all good, good thinking using the scotch tape by the way

thank you! scotch tape is my go-to for a lot of things lol. here's to hoping they hatch and Buffy will finally stop being forever-broody!

 

[JennyHeidewald]

I have also read that folks use wax, or liquid bandaid, too. Personally I'm not too keen on fingernail polish, figure it is pretty toxic.
Update us here if they hatch or not.

 

[TylerEngland]

I have also read that folks use wax, or liquid bandaid, too. Personally I'm not too keen on fingernail polish, figure it is pretty toxic.
Update us here if they hatch or not.

good point! I'll look into those options as well. and will do! fingers crossed! thanks!

 

[TylerEngland]

so neither egg made it. they both appeared to be developing well until they ended up getting craters that broke the membrane. The second one just broke today, day 15 : /. Upon inspection that shells were just so paper thin. I feel bad that I didn't notice this before setting them

 

[Aunt Angus]

I'm sorry..... I know how much you were anticipating those babies. Don't blame yourself. You couldn't have known, esp if it was your first experience with hatching eggs. Learn from this and try another time.

 

[Tonyroo]

One of my Swedish flower eggs came in with a web crack and slightly indented. I just used melted candle wax, now its good as new.