Egg 911 - cracked with baby inside

[lilnuggets]

I need some advice. My duck has been sitting on a clutch for 2-3 weeks (not sure exactly how long since we were out of town for 2 weeks) so as of last week she had 7 eggs in her clutch with only 2 developing. I found one of those eggs smashed in her run today with a not fully developed duck laying the they yolk/whites from the egg. I went out tonight to candle the last developing egg (she still has 5 other eggs with no development) and found that the good egg and a few others were cracked the duck in the good egg is still moving around and is the least cracked of all of them.. is it common for the mama to Peck at her own eggs? Anything I can do for the cracked egg that has a little one inside to make sure it survies? This is my first time letting her do her thing so I am not really familiar with any of the process.

 

[Jbently28]

I'm having the exact same issue right now with one of my bantams and my turkey hen. Just this afternoon I found a dime size crack on the side of one of my chicken eggs. The membranes have not been punctured, no blood, and the baby chick is moving around just as much as ever. I'm not sure what day it is on as I didn't mark them. This was their first time brooding and I decided to let nature takes its course to see what my girls were capable of doing. It appears to be on day 16 or 17 though. I'm just hoping that the crack doesn't cause any problems, but I've pretty much accepted the fact that it probably won't make it. I wish I had an incubator on hand but unfortunately I don't. I'm just hoping mama hen doesn't crush it anymore. I'm definitely following this to see how everything turns out for you.

 

[Rose Quartz]

I just looked this up for someone else. I've never tried any of these myself, but clear nail polish, or tape, or melted wax over the crack are the only suggestions I've found.

Hope your babies hatch.

 

[chickens really]

Some inexperienced Hens will set eggs but when close to hatching they don't understand when the eggs peep or begin to move so they break them..
Not a good Broody.

 

[lilnuggets]

well today i am down to 5 eggs (4 duds and the 1 good one). The egg that was cracked pretty bad last night was totally smooshed today. So i cleaned that out of the coop. Hopefully our only good one makes it. We are at least two weeks in. I am going out to candle it later once it gets dark out. What is the best way to determine how far along it is? I really have no idea what I am doing when it comes to candling I was basically just looking for movement or development of any kind...now that i saw that i am not sure how to narrow it down to how far long it is ...just that its still alive in there. any tips?

 

[Rose Quartz]

well today i am down to 5 eggs (4 duds and the 1 good one). The egg that was cracked pretty bad last night was totally smooshed today. So i cleaned that out of the coop. Hopefully our only good one makes it. We are at least two weeks in. I am going out to candle it later once it gets dark out. What is the best way to determine how far along it is? I really have no idea what I am doing when it comes to candling I was basically just looking for movement or development of any kind...now that i saw that i am not sure how to narrow it down to how far long it is ...just that its still alive in there. any tips?

Could you describe what you saw? Approximately how bit it is what the movement looked like, were the veins just on the yolk, or did it look like they were covering the inside of the shell. a picture of it while being candled could help if youre able to. You could look up pictures of eggs that have been candled and possibly narrow it down that way too. Mostly knowing how far eggs are comes with experience.

 

[lilnuggets]

here is a picture from the other day. You can see the actual form of a bird in there (cant see it in this picture) when i checked the good egg last night i could see the little guy shifting in there you could see the outline of his beak moving. we had 2 developing eggs the one got destroyed the other day. I have a picture of the duck that didnt make it if you would like me to post it i can i just didnt want to post anything to graphic. But it definitely has a defined bird shape. no feathers or skin yet the bird was still kinda transparent.

 

[Rose Quartz]

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here is a picture from the other day. You can see the actual form of a bird in there (cant see it in this picture) when i checked the good egg last night i could see the little guy shifting in there you could see the outline of his beak moving. we had 2 developing eggs the one got destroyed the other day. I have a picture of the duck that didnt make it if you would like me to post it i can i just didnt want to post anything to graphic. But it definitely has a defined bird shape. no feathers or skin yet the bird was still kinda transparent.

Just realized its a duck egg... im not sure the age i have only set chickens and they have different timing. sorry im no help.

 

[ronott1]

well today i am down to 5 eggs (4 duds and the 1 good one). The egg that was cracked pretty bad last night was totally smooshed today. So i cleaned that out of the coop. Hopefully our only good one makes it. We are at least two weeks in. I am going out to candle it later once it gets dark out. What is the best way to determine how far along it is? I really have no idea what I am doing when it comes to candling I was basically just looking for movement or development of any kind...now that i saw that i am not sure how to narrow it down to how far long it is ...just that its still alive in there. any tips?

Get a good incubator. Good broodies can be rare but incubators are there for incubating or for emergencies.

You can incubate the eggs and then give the broody the hatchlings

 

[lilnuggets]

Just realized its a duck egg... im not sure the age i have only set chickens and they have different timing. sorry im no help.

No worries! Thanks for the reply i know duck eggs hatch around 28 days instead of 21 but thats it haha i know i am at least half way there