White foam on egg?

[MiasMomma]

I just noticed that one of the eggs in my incubator has a few small spots of foam on it. The spots are half the size of a pencil eraser. Any idea what causes this? Thanks!!

 

[Kelsie2290]

Have you tried candling it to see what is going on? It sounds like the egg is weeping / sappy, it is rotten / has a bacterial infection. They usually smell bad. I would get it out of there asap if there is any question since if it explodes you are going to have a mess. https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/hatching-eggs-101 has some pictures of some, those were shipped eggs where it seems to happen more often because of the rough handling, but it will happen with home/local eggs also.

 

[MiasMomma]

I did candle them all just before the foam started to appear, and there is a chick in there moving around. I did notice a slightly funky smell in my incubator, and assumed it was coming from some of the eggs that weren't developing. Should I take this one out even though the chick is still moving?

 

[Kelsie2290]

I would double check that egg for sure. If the chick is still moving, that is a tough one, is your incubator big enough to keep it separate from the others if that is the problem? The ones I have had do that, there was no question they were bad, not sure how fast it would develop if the chick died.