Egg broke in nest

[Trish1974]

I have a pullet sitting on 3 eggs - 4 were originally in the nest. I candled them last night and when I lifted her up there were only 3 eggs. I could see remnants of where one apparently broke and she must have eaten the majority of the mess. Two of the eggs have a little dried yolk on them, one egg has a good amount of hardened yolk on one side. I'd say 1/3 of that egg has dried yolk on it. I tried to brush it off but it was already dried to the shell. I candled them and all 3 eggs are alive and kicking. They are due to hatch in 8 days. How should I handle the mess? I've read not to get the eggs wet, but I don't want the yolk to infect them either.

 

[CluckNDoodle]

If it were me, I would just make sure there isn't any excess slime in the box to get more on the eggs and leave them with the little bit of dried stuff on them since it doesn't sound like a lot got on the other eggs. It's best not to wipe any of the egg's protective bloom off if you can avoid it. With it being just a bit on the eggs it won't cause the chicks inside to suffocate from being smothered in the substance. Since it's already had time to dry, as far as the bacteria, they've likely already been exposed if there is any so hopefully the bloom did it's job! Also, with the eggs being under your broody hen they do subtly clean the eggs as they move around. Any time I have put hatching eggs under my broodies that looked a bit icky they end up cleaner than the ones in my incubator, lol.