I just went out to take my broody off the nest to make sure she eats. When I lifted her up there were only two eggs under her instead of three. I realized one of her eggs was stuck to her, as I pulled it away it cracked open. I'm not sure if it was slighty cracked & that's why it stuck to her, but it was stinky, like almost rotten smelling but I saw the tiniest little sign of life, I'm sure it was an embryo but I'm not sure if it was at the right stage. She's been on the eggs seven days & it was only about the size of a pea. Is that right? And is it normal for it to smell bad or do you think that was because the egg had already cracked? Now she's only got two eggs left & two weeks to go.....I sure hope the eggs make it. Does anyone have a link with pictures of what week one would look like if the shell broke? I'm new at this hatching thing, thanks in advance.
Here is a website that has a 6 day candling pic. Chicks at this age are very small. http://shilala.homestead.com/candling.html
so do you think it was a bad sign that it was stinky? do you think it means the egg wasn't good? what came out looked like yolk & a pea sized, kidney shaped, reddish blob that looked like an embryo. I'm really concerned about the smell.
The egg most likely had a small crack and bacteria got to the egg and caused it to go bad. What you saw was most likely an embryo that had died or was close to it. It would never have made it if the egg had a bad smell and had started to leak. It should have no bearing on the other eggs if they are not cracked. You can candle and make sure you have no cracks and that they are developing. If so things should go along normally.
ok, thanks. we haven't candled, we're going to try to build one. i bought the fertile eggs off eggbid & i'm just hoping they are good. I'm thinking she cracked that one at some point & that's why it was stuck to her. The others look perfect, I sure hope they both make it! I would hate to have only one baby!!!
I bet you were right and it was cracked before. I don't think it would have stuck to her if it had not cracked before hand. I hope the other two survive! Good luck~!