My hen abandoned her clutch! What should I do?

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It might be, not to scare you, but I cannot understand what would cause your eggs to crack in this way. You said your hen was breaking eggs. My worry would be that this egg received hairline fractures that have been exaggerated by either contraction of the membrane (from possibly drying out) or from expansion from inside from decomposition gasses. I'm just guessing though, as like I've said I've never seen anything like this. I hope I'm completely wrong. Take a sniff and see if you can identify any strange smells.
 
I know you're getting antsy, you don't want anything bad to happen, but lemme tell ya, things just happen. I have opened many many eggs before and have only lost chicks from not opening them in time. I don't play by the rules tho. Many people are against opening eggs as they'd prefer to let nature take its course. It weeds out bad genetics to let the chicks die who can't hatch on their own. I don't have a big enough flock to let this happen. This is certainly a special case tho. I'd definitely open it but if you do you need to expect the worst. Every time you take the chance opening your eggs it could go very wrong.
 
bullets said:
I know you're getting antsy, you don't want anything bad to happen, but lemme tell ya, things just happen. I have opened many many eggs before and have only lost chicks from not opening them in time. I don't play by the rules tho. Many people are against opening eggs as they'd prefer to let nature take its course. It weeds out bad genetics to let the chicks die who can't hatch on their own. I don't have a big enough flock to let this happen. This is certainly a special case tho. I'd definitely open it but if you do you need to expect the worst. Every time you take the chance opening your eggs it could go very wrong.
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My husband agreed with the expansion/decomp theory, so we opened it up. It was already dead. Thank you all for your help. Hopefully whichever one is peeping will have a better outcome.
 
DanielleT said:
My husband agreed with the expansion/decomp theory, so we opened it up. It was already dead. Thank you all for your help. Hopefully whichever one is peeping will have a better outcome.
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Im really sorry to hear that :( I'm glad you got that egg outta there tho. Those bacteria are seriously deadly to the eggs still alive. Good call! How many do you have left?
 
Good luck! Make sure you monitor the heat if you're using the heat lamp. Things can get very out of hand very quickly! I'm also worried about your humidity. I do not believe for a second a damp paper towel under the eggs and one on top is going to be enough. I would put a seriously wet (but not dripping) hand towel folded underneath the eggs and a washcloth with the same wetness on top or those eggs are going to get shrink wrapped. I'll be following this thread.
 
bullets said:
Good luck! Make sure you monitor the heat if you're using the heat lamp. Things can get very out of hand very quickly! I'm also worried about your humidity. I do not believe for a second a damp paper towel under the eggs and one on top is going to be enough. I would put a seriously wet (but not dripping) hand towel folded underneath the eggs and a washcloth with the same wetness on top or those eggs are going to get shrink wrapped. I'll be following this thread.
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I'm worried about the humidity too. I'll definitely switch to a towel and wash cloth. Thank you for the advice!
 

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