I had a broody hen sitting on a nest of eggs. She seemed like she never got off and I worry about that especially in this awful heat these days. I have tried putting food and water near her and it doesn't look like she touches it. So twice a day I take her off the nest and set her on the floor, she drinks first, eats, poops, walks around a little and gets back on the nest. Well, the eggs were supposed to hatch on Sunday, Aug 6th and on Friday we went through the usual routine of getting off the nest. While she was off I picked up a couple of eggs to see if any were pipping. Layla, my hen came back over and got back on the nest while I still had one egg out and as I was putting it back under her, she pecked it and put two holes in it!
I could hear the chick peeping! I knew I could not put the egg back in there like that or it would dry out and die, so I brought it up to the house to try and figure out how I could "patch" it. I was afraid to use clear fingernail polish because of the chemicals, I thought I had heard of someone using wax before on a cracked egg, but I was not sure about one with two holes poked in it. The only candles that I could find that were not scented were RED. I melted some of the wax on to a paper plate and dipped my finger in the wax and sealed the holes. I knew if I put this egg back out under the hen, it would be pecked again because of the red on it so I put it in the incubator and hoped for the best.
I kept watch on it and on Saturday evening this little chick started hatching out. I had to help out a little because the membrane was real sticky, but her she is! I couldn't believe it worked. I decided to keep her up here in the brooder with some other chicks instead of putting her back down at the coop. BTW Layla hatched out three darling babies on Saturday also!
Here is a pic of the egg after I patched it, and a pic of Miracle this morning.
Here is a pic of the egg after I patched it, and a pic of Miracle this morning.
