18 unhatched eggs

[atechieboss]

I had two hens sitting on 18 eggs. I have approx 24 hens, and 4 roosters (and actively trying to rehome three of them). A lot of the eggs disappeared over time and about 8 of them were rejected. None hatched, although I thought I heard a peeping one day and not the next. Should I have intervened and if there was a chick, taken it away into a bin with a red light? First time I've ever had no chicks. I also have a duck in the chicken coop, sitting on a chicken egg. Both are in the Farmette section of our blog site (http//www.animalrescuefoundation.blog). We have black and copperhead snakes, and I lost a lot of baby turkeys, presumably to foxes.
Appreciate answers.

 

[crazysilkielady1]

I put mothballs around my coop to keep snakes away.

 

[SeaPolka]

I don't know much about snakes eating eggs but it could be down to the hens breaking the eggs or the eggs being rotten