Near-Term egg severely cracked

[adcgroup]

I've got a Welsummer sitting eggs that are due any day. I have been checking each day when she goes to eat to see if any have hatched because other chickens were laying in the box after she started setting (I was away, didn't know she'd gone broody).

Today, I found an egg that has apparently been stepped on and severely cracked on both sides. I pulled it out and set it aside assuming the chick inside to be dead. When I came back to it, I could see it moving. I rushed inside and took it to an incubator where I already have some 18+day'ers and I put tape across where the cracks on either side were.

Has anyone had this happen before? Can the chick survive, and is there something else I should have done? I made sure the tape was below the "zip line", so the chick (if it survives) should still be able to pip & zip if it decides to hatch...

 

[kizanne]

I'd search for helping chick hatch here on BYC there are lots of threads.


The basic is peel back a portion of the shell without peeling the inner membrane. Check to see if there are veins or not showing and if they are full of blood or are empty. If empty you can help peel back the membrane a little and the chick will then self hatch. If it has blood then the chick isn't ready yet it is still absorbing the blood.

 

[seminolewind]

I'm pretty sure it's happened before. It's so close to the end, that might be a good thing. I hope it makes it!

 

[adcgroup]

Just checked it and I could still feel it moving. Have my fingers crossed!

 

[BaileyJean]

Hope it makes it! Keep us posted!

 

[adcgroup]

I just checked back and it's still moving. In fact, I could hear it chirping inside the egg. I looked all over, but it has not pipped yet. Could that be bad?

I'm assuming if it is chirping that it has popped into the air chamber by now. I know that some will do that, absorb the yolk sac, then pip, but others pip then absorb the yolk sac.

So, not really knowing the condition of the chick inside (if it was indeed stepped on), but knowing it's survived so far with all the disadvantages thrown its way, should I step in at some point and 'help' if it needs it?

I tried to keep all the tape below the air sac line, but worry that if the shell was compromised that it has hastened the drying out of the shell membrane. Perhaps for some reason the chick may not be able to pip (if it got 'glued' to a piece of the membrane at the bottom of the egg as it dried out and can't get loose enough). Would it be safe in the morning to break a piece of the shell at the very end of the air sac if it has not pipped by then? My thought would be that it could at least get enough oxygen to continue the struggle at that point rather than suffocating while being otherwise healthy.

I know I'm overthinking all of this, but after all it's been through, I want this little one to live!

 

[adcgroup]

I checked this morning and nice, robust peeps come from inside when I pick it up. Still no pip. What to do?

 

[adcgroup]

Here's a picture of the egg. You can see it suffered major damage to two sides (picture is taken looking at a "good" side). It was apparently stepped on crushing a top and bottom side. As you can see, I 'repaired' it with duct tape and clear tape - the best I could find at the moment. I tried to seal it as good as possible, but I'm sure there was already damage done, and I'm sure I didn't get it 100% sealed.

My concerns are:

1) it may have gotten dried to the membrane. I candled it with a flashlight and what appears to be the air chamber is pretty large. It is peeping (since yesterday), but has not pipped.

2) it may not have enough structural integrity left in the lower part of the egg to get sufficient leverage to pip.

If I pop a small hole in it, will that inhibit it from zipping the rest of the way?

 

[bloonskiller911]

when should it hatch?

 

[adcgroup]

The chick has been peeping since yesterday, but...

I don't really know. I wasn't expecting this hen to go broody and she took up in a "community" egg box that everyone else lays in. Now this is one of her eggs (She's my only Welsummer and this is her dark brown egg), but it just so happens that another hen had the same idea a few days earlier. That happened while we were out of town.

It's been about 25 days since we came home and the first hen has had chicks hatching for a week now. (short of the story, I moved her and put remaining eggs in incubator that were under her)

Given the strength of the peeping, it's the right time I'd say - but then it's all guesswork at this point. I'm flying by the seat of my pants and want to give this one the best chance I can.