I broke a live egg!!! HELP!

[Amurr]

Guys I messed up. I initially started with 4 hatching eggs. Three were fertile. I’m at the end of day 24 and was pretty sure my eggs were gone. So I cracked them. 2 were dead (passed sometime in the last day or three) but the third one was still alive!!! When I opened the shell I broke away a thumbnail sized hole over the air cell. There is no way to close it. The membrane underneath is still intact. Is there ANY way I can save it?! I am absolutely devastated by my impatience!

 

[LikeTurkeys]

Is it bleeding? Is the chick chirping/breathing? Thumbnail size is not too large. Put it back in the incubator and make sure the humidity is up so that the membrane doesn't dry out.

 

[Tonyg503504]

I'm really need in help bc I tried to upload a pic an it won't I'll show my next batch

 

[Amurr]

Is it bleeding? Is the chick chirping/breathing? Thumbnail size is not too large. Put it back in the incubator and make sure the humidity is up so that the membrane doesn't dry out.

No bleeding. I didn’t actually touch the chick. I just broke the shell over the air cell. He appears to still be fully encased in the undamaged membrane. He hadn’t/hasn’t internally pipped into the air cell so I wouldn’t say he’s breathing, and no chirping.

 

[LikeTurkeys]

No bleeding. I didn’t actually touch the chick. I just broke the shell over the air cell. He appears to still be fully encased in the undamaged membrane. He hadn’t/hasn’t internally pipped into the air cell so I wouldn’t say he’s breathing, and no chirping.

Does he move? You are not in such a bad situation actually since you haven't touched the membrane. Are there veins on the membrane that you can see?

@Tonyg503504, can you start your own thread please? More people will focus on your problem that way.

 

[Uff Da]

I've done this and the chick survived. I just put him back in the incubator and let him finish. He did need help out because he got shrinkwrapped from me cracking him open out of the incubator, but he survived and is a healthy cockerel. You might need to look at the assisted hatching article if you can't see a beak: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/step-by-step-guide-to-assisted-hatching.64660/

 

[Amurr]

Yes he moves. Vigorously. I couldn’t see a lot of veins, the membrane was fairly white. I think. I panicked hard when I saw him move and sprinted him back to the incubator with a damp paper towel over the hole. So I’ll admit I didn’t look at him very long. I was terrified to leave it open too long.

 

[Ebony Rose]

A drop of sunflower cooking oil on the membrane, just enough to keep it moist is one of my go-to tricks for this sort of problem, and then return the egg to the incubator. The oil absorbs into the skin (in this case the membrane) rapidly yet keeps it moist. It has the added benefit of enabling you to see through the membrane at the veins and the chick. You're pretty far along in the hatching process so ill effects should be minimal to none.

 

[Amurr]

I've done this and the chick survived. I just put him back in the incubator and let him finish. He did need help out because he got shrinkwrapped from me cracking him open out of the incubator, but he survived and is a healthy cockerel. You might need to look at the assisted hatching article if you can't see a beak: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/step-by-step-guide-to-assisted-hatching.64660/

did the chick start his hatch naturally? Like did he pip on his own? I dont know what to watch for now. I feel so dumb.

 

[Amurr]

T

A drop of sunflower cooking oil on the membrane, just enough to keep it moist is one of my go-to tricks for this sort of problem, and then return the egg to the incubator. The oil absorbs into the skin (in this case the membrane) rapidly yet keeps it moist. It has the added benefit of enabling you to see through the membrane at the veins and the chick. You're pretty far along in the hatching process so ill effects should be minimal to none.

This is probably a really dumb question, but can I use vegetable oil? And what is the benefit of seeing the veins?