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[hlavinkab]

I had a possum get into my hen house last night and eat all my egg my broody hen was sitting on but 1. I left the egg in with her last night but she wouldn't sit on it. It was cold this morning. The egg is at day 17. I brought it in & tried to warm it. I do not have an incubator. Should I get one? Do you think the egg will still hatch? There were chicks in the other eggs I saw them as I caught the possum in the act.

 

[five is my dog]

try to put it under a light and put a damp paper towel under it and sprits the air around it a few times every hour

 

[drlcb]

Sorry to hear about your loss. My opinion is that it is too late to run out and get an incubator. You could try the light and paper towels but my feeling is that you will be wasting your time. Even if the chick survives it will be at a major disadvantage just from the temperature drop. Humidity and temperature are critical at this point in development.
Deal with the predators before trying again. And already have an incubator that has been properly set up and you can trust... I've lost a few to incubators malfunctioning. The last brood I lost was about 17 days into incubating when my home made incubator cooked them.
We learn from experience each time. We always learn more when things go wrong. Don't give up, if the hen went broody once she will go broody again, I'm sure she was traumatized by the attack! All thing considered be thankful she didn't get eaten as well.