Rotten Eggs and a Chick

Wednesday afternoon I came home to a nasty smell in the house.  I thought maybe the hen had pooped again, but this was much much worse.

Be thankful that smells can't be shared over the internet.

I picked up the hen to see if she'd pooped and found a new chick and a rotten egg that had exploded.

All. Over. Everything.

The chick, all of the eggs, the bottom of the hen, everything was coated in rotten egg nastiness. 

I put the chick under warm water from the faucet, twice, in an attempt to clean her off and then put her back with the hen (who has stopped pecking everyone) to keep her warm.  She wasn't able to stand up and seemed dizzy every time I saw her.

She's obviously the one with matted feathers on the left

I cleaned out the box and that evening I used warm water to clean off all of the eggs.  I've read that bad bacteria can go through the porous shells and infect the chicks inside.  This was the nastiest smell I've ever dealt with and I was feeling nauseous the entire time.

Even once I got all of the eggs and box cleaned and new bedding, it still smelled like rotten egg, just more faintly.

The good news is that the rotten egg chick is doing better.  She no longer seems dizzy, and although I think she needs another washing because her feathers are still slightly matted down, she's acting just like the other chicks now.