Help! Cracked egg at day 18

[hrayb]

Hi!
I have a broody hen who has been such a good mom to her eggs and has been sitting on them for almost 3 weeks. This is day 18/19 She left the nest and was sitting on another group of eggs today when we checked. Her current eggs were almost cold. So we moved her back and all was well. I went out at dark to check for life since it is cold here. Well in doing so a large part of the egg cracked right off. I placed the egg soft side down in my hand and I could feel the chick moving around for at least 2 minutes while I panicked and didn’t know what to do. What should I do?!
I placed back under hen every gently, should I do something else?!
I wish I would have just left it alone and waited to see

 

[NatJ]

I placed back under hen every gently, should I do something else?!

Yes, I think that was the best choice: put it under the hen and hope for the best.

I can't think of anything else that would be helpful, unless you have an incubator. It might have a better chance in an incubator, because there wouldn't be a hen wiggling around and possibly moving or bumping or squishing parts of it.

 

[hrayb]

Yes, I think that was the best choice: put it under the hen and hope for the best.

I can't think of anything else that would be helpful, unless you have an incubator. It might have a better chance in an incubator, because there wouldn't be a hen wiggling around and possibly moving or bumping or squishing parts of it.

I am getting an incubator today from my sister in law actually. Think I should go ahead and move her over to that once I get it ready?

 

[NatJ]

I am getting an incubator today from my sister in law actually. Think I should go ahead and move her over to that once I get it ready?

Set the incubator up and run it for a few hours first, to make sure it can maintain the right temperature. Then yes, if the egg is still alive, I think putting it in the incubator is probably a good idea.

You should probably also look through the article on assisted hatching:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/guide-to-assisted-hatching-for-all-poultry.72886/
It talks about things like keeping the membrane moist, so it doesn't dry out and cause new problems.

Since a big piece of shell is missing, you will probably need to keep the incubator humidity as high as you reasonably can (fill all water sections, and consider also adding a wet sponge or something similar to provide more surface area for evaporation.)

With the missing shell, the chick might have trouble hatching, or it might not. Of course the first step is to keep it alive and growing until it reaches that point! But you should probably be ready to assist if needed, or ready to sit on your hands and not assist if not needed. That can be a hard decision

 

[hrayb]

Thank you so much!! I’m getting it now and will run it for a while! Appreciate your responses!

 

[NatJ]

Thank you so much!! I’m getting it now and will run it for a while! Appreciate your responses!

I hope everything goes well!

Things like a cracked shell can be very bad news for the chick (lets in bacteria, lets out moisture, isn't right for the movements the chick needs to make at hatching time.)

But chickens of any age can surprise people by coming safely through dangerous or unexpected situations, so I do hope your chick proves to be one of those success stories

 

[SmiYa0126]

Set the incubator up and run it for a few hours first, to make sure it can maintain the right temperature. Then yes, if the egg is still alive, I think putting it in the incubator is probably a good idea.

You should probably also look through the article on assisted hatching:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/guide-to-assisted-hatching-for-all-poultry.72886/
It talks about things like keeping the membrane moist, so it doesn't dry out and cause new problems.

Since a big piece of shell is missing, you will probably need to keep the incubator humidity as high as you reasonably can (fill all water sections, and consider also adding a wet sponge or something similar to provide more surface area for evaporation.)

With the missing shell, the chick might have trouble hatching, or it might not. Of course the first step is to keep it alive and growing until it reaches that point! But you should probably be ready to assist if needed, or ready to sit on your hands and not assist if not needed. That can be a hard decision

Thoughts on putting coconut oil on the exposed membrane?

 

[GirlsHuntToo]

Do you still have that tiny piece of shell?? You can't use super glue but nail polish will do the trick.

 

[NatJ]

Thoughts on putting coconut oil on the exposed membrane?

Maybe

Assisted hatching is not an area where I have much experience, and I tend to forget details that I've never had occasion to use. That is why I recommended the article on assisted hatching, and mentioned something about the membrane-- I know the information is in that article somewhere.

 

[SmiYa0126]

Maybe

Assisted hatching is not an area where I have much experience, and I tend to forget details that I've never had occasion to use. That is why I recommended the article on assisted hatching, and mentioned something about the membrane-- I know the information is in that article somewhere.

Ok, I've used coconut oil on an assisted hatch I had. It was my own fault though, I assisted too soon.