This was under my broody. Somehow, the big rounded edge became crushed in, about the size of a nickel-guess DH will listen to me when I tell him that broodies need to be out of the main coop to avoid this stuff.
This is one of two eggs out of my only laying Delaware hen, Georgie. I'm pretty sure Ellie is dying so will never lay another egg. They are both approaching 6 years old, as is Isaac, the old man in my avatar painting. I wasn't sure he was fertile and I'm still not since his barred son, Deacon, is in that coop and could be the sire, but Ike makes sure as much as he can that Deacon gets no chance with the hens and so far, nothing incubated has been out of Deacon. I'm not really sure Deacon is fertile either, long story, he's defective in a couple of ways (Tiny the Terrorist's son). I almost didn't put Georgie's under Dottie because 4 eggs from my Blue Rock hens in that same coop were all non-fertile-Dottie tried this with those first and at Day 14 I had to toss them all. So, I was very happy when I saw Georgie's developing. Now, to see if they hatch and if Isaac or Deacon is the sire.
for Isaac to be!
My broody BR hen, Dottie, got a few eggs, two of them were Georgie's, last chance for a pure Delaware out of Isaac. I'm taking a chance since Georgie carries a dwarf gene and about 20-25% of her progeny are either dwarfs or have serious hock issues, probably a fallout from the gene as well. But, anyway, found one of the two crackled pretty good yesterday on Day 13. We've done heating pad incubation of a bantam egg when the same thing happened and the chick hatched, so we waxed the cracked area and put the egg in a box of shavings under a reptile bulb with a damp washcloth laid over it, trying to simulate the hen. Wish me luck!! Today is Day 14 and upon candling, veins are intact and chick is alive. I do have a Genesis incubator, but didn't want to drag that out and set it up for just one egg.
That thermometer is not my usual incubator one-it was just handy, not accurate enough for using in a bator, but fine for this setup. This says 105*, which is fine because the cloth is always draped over the egg and we use the eyedropper to dampen it on occasion.
****For those who wonder, we could not put the egg back under Dottie (dubbed Bigfoot, lol) because the shell was severely compromised and if she stepped on it, it would crush completely, not to mention, her direct body heat would melt the wax off the crackled area.
My broody BR hen, Dottie, got a few eggs, two of them were Georgie's, last chance for a pure Delaware out of Isaac. I'm taking a chance since Georgie carries a dwarf gene and about 20-25% of her progeny are either dwarfs or have serious hock issues, probably a fallout from the gene as well. But, anyway, found one of the two crackled pretty good yesterday on Day 13. We've done heating pad incubation of a bantam egg when the same thing happened and the chick hatched, so we waxed the cracked area and put the egg in a box of shavings under a reptile bulb with a damp washcloth laid over it, trying to simulate the hen. Wish me luck!! Today is Day 14 and upon candling, veins are intact and chick is alive. I do have a Genesis incubator, but didn't want to drag that out and set it up for just one egg.
That thermometer is not my usual incubator one-it was just handy, not accurate enough for using in a bator, but fine for this setup. This says 105*, which is fine because the cloth is always draped over the egg and we use the eyedropper to dampen it on occasion.
****For those who wonder, we could not put the egg back under Dottie (dubbed Bigfoot, lol) because the shell was severely compromised and if she stepped on it, it would crush completely, not to mention, her direct body heat would melt the wax off the crackled area.
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