Help! I cracked a hatching egg. Now what?

[Chickin Out]

Hi everyone,
Here's my problem. I have a few precious bantam eggs under a broody hen. Today when I went to check under the hen, I lifted her up a little and I guess one of the eggs was caught under her wing. It fell and hit into another egg and one of the eggs now has a small cracked area, like a pockmark.
I believe the membrane is fully intact. I am concerned the egg / membrane will dry out now that the outer shell is compromised.
I had candled these eggs and there are definitely chicks in them. I feel terrible. What can I do? Is there any hope?

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Whatbday are they on? Some people use a sealer like a clear nail polish for fixing tiny hairline cracks

 

[Chickin Out]

Honestly, I have lost track. One hatched today. But the others are probably several days out still by the looks of things.

I'm only hatching eggs from one hen, and so I'm just adding them as she lays them rather than waiting for them to accumulate before setting them.

 

[Chickin Out]

How well would cyanoacrylate, also known as super glue, work as a sealer?

 

[JacinLarkwell]

@Isaac 0 @Pyxis

Any clue about super glue?

 

[BigBlueHen53]

@Pyxis and @Kiki are very knowledgeable about hatching, but I do not know if they are around this late. Good luck with your little one! ❤

 

[MarkJr]

I think I’ve read simple candle wax is the trick. Hope you get an experienced answer soon!!!

Good Luck

 

[Kiraeh]

I have an egg cracked since day one, on day ten with candle wax. So far so good. If it's later in incubation, I would use nail polish-- easy to control, durable, and more likely to be pippable through. Early incubation I'd worry about it leeching into the egg and stick with wax. The person I saw recommend nail polish had several pics of chicks succefuly hatching out of eggs patched with it.

There's a guide in linked in the sticky that suggests white glue, it seems like it would work, be controllable, nontoxic. I would not use superglue, too easy to make things worse if your application isn't perfect and that stuff off gasses like mad.

 

[Isaac 0]

What I would suggest would depend on the size of the shell that has been damaged. If it was a tiny hairline crack, you could probably get away with using some nail polish, if it's the size of a quarter or bigger, and it's pressed in, I might put a piece of scotch tape over.

Do you have a picture?

 

[Pyxis]

I've used scotch tape before and it worked well. Wax is also regularly used by others with good results.

Be careful with the staggered hatch under the hen like that, though. Do you have an incubator to finish off the eggs you're adding once the hen abandons the unhatched ones to take care of the chick(s) she's hatched? She will, as soon as the chicks need food and water.