Egg burst under broody hen day 11

[Banniechick]

Well, I just had a first. Broody hen just had an egg burst under her. I heard it happen and went to investigate and the smell was awful. It got into several eggs, but I quickly removed the nest box and cleaned it and replaced the hay. Mom had some gunk on her, but not terribly. I didn’t clean the eggs off because it had dried by the time I got the nest clean. Candled the other eggs and they are alive. What’s the percentage the others will actually hatch since this happened?

 

[Tonyroo]

50/50 hatch. Because you left the bacterial loaded gunk on the other eggs and on the hen. Bacteria flourish in moist stagnant conditions like under a hen.

You should have cleaned off the remaining eggs that got the gunk on them. My suggestion is put hydrogen peroxide with water 50/50 ratio in a spray bottle to spray the eggs and the nest.

 

[Banniechick]

Got it. I figured such. I just freaked out about the whole thing and didn’t fully use my brain.

 

[Tonyroo]

You still can fix this but don't wait to long if you want them all to hatch.

 

[Auma]

I just had the same thing happen this morning, I'm also new to having a broody hen. So my question is, wouldn't washing the remaining eggs remove the bloom and make it easier for bacteria to enter the remaining egg? And what do you use to wash your chicken? Is it just water or do I keep something more?

 

[Banniechick]

I just had the same thing happen this morning, I'm also new to having a broody hen. So my question is, wouldn't washing the remaining eggs remove the bloom and make it easier for bacteria to enter the remaining egg? And what do you use to wash your chicken? Is it just water or do I keep something more?

I was asking myself that same question about killing the outside protective barrier, because I’ve always been told to never mess with the eggs. But I took a chance and used Tonyroos suggestion of the 50/50 peroxide/water mix. They are due next Wednesday and I’ll post an update.

 

[Auma]

I look forward to hearing how this goes for you! Ours our due next Friday and I'm hoping we have some that will make it!

 

[Banniechick]

Update to original post, I had three eggs left after the one exploding and took out two others that had stopped developing. So as of today, July 10th, all but one of my eggs hatched under the hen! Thanks for all the help with this issue!