Hen behaving badly

[pasofan]

I have several hens brooding eggs, one buff orp and two sex-linked (second time around for the buff orp). I have 7 nest boxes, and the other chickens take turns in the occupied nests when the brooding hens leave to feed. One day last week, we found that two of the eggs, with nearly ready-to-hatch chicks, had been pecked open and the chicks were dead. Today, I found another one that had one half the shell removed and the dead chick in the other half tossed out of the nest. I suspect the buff orp, but I haven't caught the culprit red-handed. For now, the suspect is segregated from the rest. After the first incident, I thought it weas because the hens had not gone back to the nest box where they started, so I made sure that at night, the hens were in their proper boxes; however, with today's events, being in the right box doesn't appear to be the solution. I've had hens rear eggs that were not their own before, but this is the first time I have three going at the same time. Has anyone had this problem?

 

[sourland]

The non setting hens are very likely the ones causing the problems.

 

[MROO]

I have several hens brooding eggs, one buff orp and two sex-linked (second time around for the buff orp). I have 7 nest boxes, and the other chickens take turns in the occupied nests when the brooding hens leave to feed. One day last week, we found that two of the eggs, with nearly ready-to-hatch chicks, had been pecked open and the chicks were dead. Today, I found another one that had one half the shell removed and the dead chick in the other half tossed out of the nest. I suspect the buff orp, but I haven't caught the culprit red-handed. For now, the suspect is segregated from the rest. After the first incident, I thought it weas because the hens had not gone back to the nest box where they started, so I made sure that at night, the hens were in their proper boxes; however, with today's events, being in the right box doesn't appear to be the solution. I've had hens rear eggs that were not their own before, but this is the first time I have three going at the same time. Has anyone had this problem?

Can you put up a divider or a dog kennel to separate them from the rest of the flock? Sometimes that's the only thing you can do to protect the eggs from insider-predation. I am lucky enough to have a portion of my run that can be easily divided. DS made me a hardware cloth panel that can be (fairly) easily added and removed. The "annex" is covered, so all I need is a cat crate to serve as a nesting box. Works like a charm, except for this last clutch. There are three sharing a single loooong nest. Luckily, with three Mamas, there's always someone with the eggs, so, so far, so good!