HELP - Badly crushed egg, but chick is alive

[MROO]

I have a Nankin bantam egg that was badly damaged while I was changing food and water for our broody. Mama was sweet and snuggly buff bantam cochin until her first chick hatched. Now Gem is GemZilla. I was not expecting a violent attack, but she jumped at me, landing hard on her nest. One egg has a pip-like crack, but no hole. The other is badly crushed on one end and the membrane is definitely disturbed. There's blood seeping, not much, but enough to know that we have an issue. The best/worst part is that both chicks are close to lockdown and still alive! I've dripped wax over the cracks/holes and moved them and the one undamaged egg to the incubator, for now. I don't have pictures, yet, as it all happened really quickly. I'll try to get them in the morning.

I'm hoping I can nurse these two along for at least a day or two, but I have a serious concern. One of the broken eggs is very dirty and there is a serious concern over bacteria ... especially in the incubator, where the humidity is high.

So ... Please ... has anyone dealt successfully with this before?
Should I remove the damaged pieces of the shell and coat what's left of the membrane with coconut oil?
Should I adjust temperatures or humidity? Humidity is still climbing, but nearly at 70 %, right now. Temp is almost to the "usual" 99.5.
Should I "cup" them on the unbroken half of the shell?
Help! I wanna save my babies!

 

[SnapdragonQ]

@CluckNDoodle

Hopefully someone can chime in very soon!

I'd be inclined to keep as much of the shell as possible unless you can find another way to cover the membrane....maybe with some saran wrap?
Coconut oil helps, but will probably need reapplying often. Or at least my little assisted hatch chick did.

 

[JaeG]

This is from an excellent article in the goose forum (though it applies to all incubated eggs). This particular passage may be worth trying if you are able to do something similar:

If you have assisted too early then allow the chick to curl up its head and re-cap the egg. Infertile eggs are excellent for this purpose. They are broken in two and the top half cleaned of its membranes. The top has a safety hole put in it and the egg shell soaked in boiled water. This action causes the shell to be pliable and it can be trimmed just below the widest point so it provides a snug fit. After soaking again in hot water remove the cap, allow to cool and simply place over the chick in the shell. If necessary use surgical tape to hold it in place. You are now committed to a fully assisted hatch.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/goose-incubation-hatching-guide-completed.491013/

Good luck with these two little ones.

 

[MROO]

This is from an excellent article in the goose forum (though it applies to all incubated eggs). This particular passage may be worth trying if you are able to do something similar:

If you have assisted too early then allow the chick to curl up its head and re-cap the egg. Infertile eggs are excellent for this purpose. They are broken in two and the top half cleaned of its membranes. The top has a safety hole put in it and the egg shell soaked in boiled water. This action causes the shell to be pliable and it can be trimmed just below the widest point so it provides a snug fit. After soaking again in hot water remove the cap, allow to cool and simply place over the chick in the shell. If necessary use surgical tape to hold it in place. You are now committed to a fully assisted hatch.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/goose-incubation-hatching-guide-completed.491013/

Good luck with these two little ones.

THANK YOU! It looks like Baby getting a new house ... or at least a new roof!

 

[SnapdragonQ]

If the egg doesn't need a lot of shell from another egg, perhaps you could use some saran wrap, or similar, to "bandage" the egg (with or without the new cap).
Not the whole egg, just enough to hold it together and lend support, but still be able to get enough ventilation.

 

[Aunt Angus]

Oh, good luck! I am pulling for you!!!

 

[jolenesdad]

I wouldn’t worry about cupping yet. Have an actual cup on standby in case they get out before absorbing the yolk. If you’re talking badly dirty.... you’ll need to get the babies out immediately at hatch anyway.

do you have chlorhexidine or can you get any? When coming from the egg to a soiled environment it’s best to dip their naval. I believe @Mixed flock enthusiast did this last year with guineas hatching in an incredibly rank environment. I’m not sure if one soiled egg qualifies as something to be super worried about bacteria on, but it’s better to be safe.


There are a lot of ways that membrane can bleed and not kill a chick, especially in these circumstances.

I would have a very small brooder heated with a heat lamp and a thermometer where the entire space is 95 degrees to take them out immediately as they hatch. This late in the game I think the concern is more for when the chicks hatch and are exposed to the bacteria that may (or may not) be there. Just get them out fast.

I just recently hatched a broody stepped on egg at lockdown. No blood. I also just recently dropped and cracked an egg going into lockdown that bled and it hatched fine.

I would NOT remove the shell pieces for fear of further damage, however I would coat a part,not All with coconut oil. The purpose solely being that you can watch the veins recede. I would assume that trying to keep the whole membrane moist could do more harm than good.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Keep the eggs in the incubator so you can prevent any further damage.
Keep the humidity high since a cracked egg will lose moisture much faster than one with a complete shell.
Keep the temp at 99.5 (forced air) 100.5 at the top of the egg (still air).
Get some liquid bandage. It is the best thing I've tried and it has antiseptic qualities.

 

[CluckNDoodle]

I just walked my friend through helping her gosling that this happened too under her broody goose a couple days ago and her gosling is perfectly healthy and back with her Mom now! Do you have an idea of how close this chick is to hatching?

 

[SnapdragonQ]

How are the babies this morning?