Smashed egg - LIVE chick - NEED HELP ASAP

[Ursuline Chick]

Well, you did all you could for the one chick, it was lucky you tried. Now you just need to focus on the Marans egg. Hopefully this one will be successful.
How was the Play?

 

[TJAnonymous]

Well, you did all you could for the one chick, it was lucky you tried. Now you just need to focus on the Marans egg. Hopefully this one will be successful.
How was the Play?

Thank you! I hate losing chicks but it would have been a miracle if it could have made it through that damage...

The play was cute... The kids did Dorothy in Wonderland. My daughter was the Knight. She is the one on the left with the blue hair and incredibly dirty riding boots...

 

[Ursuline Chick]

My daughter did plays from Middle school through High school and beyond. She loved it. She just had the best time doing those plays. I hope your daughter is enjoying her plays as well.

 

[CluckNDoodle]

I'm so sorry this has been such a difficult experience!

It's really difficult to decide on how to offer advice because we don't know how far along in development the chick is. I would proceed differently based on whether they are expected to hatch soon or not. I have repaired cracks and hatched chicks successfully but because a lot of the shell has fallen away I think a little scotch tape would be your only option with this one but if you expect it to hatch soon I wouldn't bother with the tape personally.

I wouldn't use coconut oil on the membrane because coconut oil needs to be reapplied every few hours and will actually cause the membrane to harden if not reapplied often enough. It works well during a hatch assist but not when the assist may be days long. Antibiotic ointment, like Neosporin (I use the one without pain reliever) will keep the membrane pliable for much much longer and doesn't harden. I use q-tips for gentle application.

Can you see the air cell on this egg or what position the chick is in?

 

[TJAnonymous]

My daughter did plays from Middle school through High school and beyond. She loved it. She just had the best time doing those plays. I hope your daughter is enjoying her plays as well.

Thank you! She really enjoys theater.... This is her 2nd year doing it. She's currently a junior in high school. One more year then I'll be an empty nester!

 

[TJAnonymous]

I'm so sorry this has been such a difficult experience!

It's really difficult to decide on how to offer advice because we don't know how far along in development the chick is. I would proceed differently based on whether they are expected to hatch soon or not. I have repaired cracks and hatched chicks successfully but because a lot of the shell has fallen away I think a little scotch tape would be your only option with this one but if you expect it to hatch soon I wouldn't bother with the tape personally.

I wouldn't use coconut oil on the membrane because coconut oil needs to be reapplied every few hours and will actually cause the membrane to harden if not reapplied often enough. It works well during a hatch assist but not when the assist may be days long. Antibiotic ointment, like Neosporin (I use the one without pain reliever) will keep the membrane pliable for much much longer and doesn't harden. I use q-tips for gentle application.

Can you see the air cell on this egg or what position the chick is in?

Thank you so much! I have some meetings for work this morning but then I should be able to take the egg into my office and attempt to get some candling pictures of the brown egg. As I mentioned before, it's a Marans egg so very difficult to see through but I think I can get a pic of the air cell at a minimum.

I know the hen that laid the egg has been sitting for quite a while now which is why I thought a hatch was imminent. When I lifted her up, she had probably a dozen eggs under her so clearly other hens have been adding to her clutch. Unfortunately there isn't really a way for me to block her off in the particular box she is in. I could move her to a brooder but every time I've done that in the past, the broody has abandoned the eggs.

Anyway, back to the egg. I've repaired cracks before with beeswax but these chunks seem quite large to risk putting warm wax on them. Would you recommend just keeping it lubricated with the Bacitracin/Neosporin? I have a tube of that (without pain meds) in my poultry first aid kit.

 

[CluckNDoodle]

Thank you so much! I have some meetings for work this morning but then I should be able to take the egg into my office and attempt to get some candling pictures of the brown egg. As I mentioned before, it's a Marans egg so very difficult to see through but I think I can get a pic of the air cell at a minimum.

I know the hen that laid the egg has been sitting for quite a while now which is why I thought a hatch was imminent. When I lifted her up, she had probably a dozen eggs under her so clearly other hens have been adding to her clutch. Unfortunately there isn't really a way for me to block her off in the particular box she is in. I could move her to a brooder but every time I've done that in the past, the broody has abandoned the eggs.

Anyway, back to the egg. I've repaired cracks before with beeswax but these chunks seem quite large to risk putting warm wax on them. Would you recommend just keeping it lubricated with the Bacitracin/Neosporin? I have a tube of that (without pain meds) in my poultry first aid kit.

I wouldn't use wax either because it's so open, I wouldn't risk it. I keep going back and forth but if I were in your shoes I would probably choose to leave it open as well and stay hands on with gently applying a little ointment to the exposed membrane. Hopefully it's close to hatch day. You should be able to gauge a little better in person but I think applying just a little bit of ointment twice a day should work. Marans tend to have a pretty thick papery external membrane so that's a positive at least!

Hopefully you can see something when you candle!

 

[TJAnonymous]

So I candled the brown egg for a good 15 minutes and didn't see any movement. I'm not 100 percent sure though because there were times when I thought maybe there was a tiny movement but it could just be my eyes playing tricks on me. So I'm playing it safe for now. I will try to candle again this evening when it's darker, just to be sure.

Here's the pictures I took from different angles. I tried to prop it up on a pillow for support.

 

[Ursuline Chick]

Thank you! She really enjoys theater.... This is her 2nd year doing it. She's currently a junior in high school. One more year then I'll be an empty nester!

Welcome to the club. It isn't as bad as you think. I find it exciting watching her become a young woman and making her way in the world.

 

[CluckNDoodle]

So I candled the brown egg for a good 15 minutes and didn't see any movement. I'm not 100 percent sure though because there were times when I thought maybe there was a tiny movement but it could just be my eyes playing tricks on me. So I'm playing it safe for now. I will try to candle again this evening when it's darker, just to be sure.

Here's the pictures I took from different angles. I tried to prop it up on a pillow for support.

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