Hopeful homesteader
Songster
- Jul 22, 2021
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I set these eggs 6/12 with a hatch date of 7/3 but the last eggs I put under a hen in March started hatching 4 days early which I believe the early hatching is caused by high temperatures where I live, 3 hens all had early hatches so I'm betting these will hatch early also. I put 6 eggs under her and 1 is missing and she's got yolk dried to the bottom of her wing feathers and I did not find a body and it also doesn't smell like rotten egg either so I'm assuming another hen jumped in to lay an egg and smashed it and they ate it before I discovered it but now there is this egg that's cracked and idk if it's a pip or smashed. I candled it and the baby is still alive in there but idk if I should add wax to the cracks or leave it be in case it is trying to hatch? It is also at the narrow end of the egg and my last hatch had 1 baby come out the wrong end and it did not really zip, I kept checking it and it appeared like the whole narrow end of the shell was smashed and I couldn't tell if the hen had done it but it ended up hatching put just fine. On the one hand I don't want to seal the cracks and kill the chick if it is trying to come out but also don't want it to die if the shell is cracked too soon. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Also I do not have an incubator so it will have to stay under the hen.