So Sad and So confused about missing egg

[sundayafternoon]

So I have a broody in my coop who is on day 20 today. She has been sitting tight on 6 eggs for 20 days with no problems and this morning I went right out to let out all the chickens and she got up to go eat and poo so I went to peek in the nest and one of the eggs had disappeared. There is absolutely no sign of it anywhere- not shell pieces, no early arrival chick, not a thing.

To make matters even more confusing my dogs were huddled over something in the yard behind me after I had done a complete coop sweep to make sure the egg wasn't there and they were eating an egg from one of my other hens (thank goodness it wasn't the same lost egg) but I have NO clue how they would have found an egg in the yard to munch on.

But now I am really sad because I should have had a baby chick from that egg tomorrow and because I wonder what could have possibly gotten into my coop and carried away two eggs, one without a trace, and then leave another broken one in the yard for the dogs to finish off.

I am so worried about the other eggs today as they are all supposed to hatch tomorrow.

There is no possible way for a raccoon or a opossum to get in there when the coop is closed up at night. The coop was maybe only open after dark for about a half hour before I closed it up last night. All the chickens were fine, but I failed to check under her for all the eggs, i didn't want to bother her during this "lockdown" period.

I looked everywhere for the egg this morning and couldn't find a trace of it anywhere. I found some shell in the garden near where the dogs were but that was the egg they must have found in the yard which was a light tan egg. The egg missing is a splash egg, very dark brown shell.

It was freezing cold last night and I live in Indiana (and in the middle Indianapolis) so a snake is out of the question because of temperature. Not that I have EVER seen one here anyway.

I have never once seen a rat around but it doesn't mean they aren't here. And I heard they steal eggs- but I still have no clue how it could have gotten in. Every opening in my coop is covered with hardware cloth wire.

Would a mama hen eat her egg, shell and all and leave no trace of it? I have never had a problem with egg eating either. The other hens are still sharing the coop with her, but again, there was NO sign of the egg.

I know that no one can really help, I am just SO SAD that I lost an egg so close to the hatch date and especially in a way that is so confusing and leaves me so worried about the other 5 eggs.

 

[AmyLang]

My broody hen was sitting on about 9 eggs. I had placed a few "extra" under her for a day or two after she started sitting. Over the course of the three weeks, at one point or another, she removed 5 of the eggs. She would somehow take them from the roost and get them far away from the others, and nearly bury them. It was wild...and neat. Would this be a possibility? (all 5 of these eggs never became chickens, btw...they never progressed into anything, I checked.)

 

[thebanthams]

I have other hens eat my eggs I have other hens eat my newly hatched babies. its sad. next time seperate the broody hen from them.

 

[sundayafternoon]

She is closed off from the rest now in the nest box thanks to some strategically placed cardboard. I was not going to cause her the stress of doing that until I saw some piping but I decided to go ahead and do it now. She hadn't been bothered too much by the others. I just can't believe they would have eaten it and there is no trace of the egg anywhere. The nest wasn't even messy. I can't imagine that an egg on day 20 would not have left some kind of blood or mess if one of the chickens ate it in the nest. Hatching under a broody might be the most stressful thing I have ever done.

 

[PrairieRidge]

Last year I had eggs disappear from under my 2 turkey hens laying together on a batch. They were separated from everyone. They ended up only hatching one chick, very sad, every they seemed said. My uncle from Ireland said that he has seen rats steel eggs from under hens and carry them away! I was terrified by that but couldn't think of anything else that could get in there to steel them. I don't know but it is very disappointing