Please help! My diamond doves had eggs, and one of the eggs is on the floor. It is cracked and I could see a baby bird inside. It has been about 16-18 days incubation by the parents so I believe that is past their hatch date. Should I put the egg back in the nest? It looks as if the bird is dead! Do you think it was already dead and the parents knew something was wrong so they threw it out of the nest?

It might be dead! And since the egg cracked I don't think the little chick will live!

that's awful. i read somewhere that this is done when there is either something wrong with the egg or the conditions of the cage/nesting box ( http://www.petqna.com/birds/646-birds-3.