Cannibal broody

[Southernbelle]

It may just be that she stepped on the egg, it cracked and she pecked at the bloody crack until she'd pecked a hole in the egg. You'll never know for sure. I think it's promising that she hasn't attacked the other eggs. If the eggs are really important to you, you may want to take them from her, but otherwise I'd probably give her a chance and keep her stress to a minimum. Is it her first time going broody?

 

[mylittlezoo]

Quote:
Oh please yourself. Save me the sanctimoniousness. It was EXAGGERATION. It was HUMOR.

And even if you were somehow incapable of recognizing the tone of the whole post, or of reading that the rest of the eggs are still under her, then let me go ahead and say that comments like "what???" and sarcastic little "pleases" with angry little emoticons probably isn't the way to win friends and influence people.

I apologize if you took offence... I just felt you were a little blase about it, and I feel the loss of any life very keenly.

 

[journey11]

Ewww...and how sad! Maybe it was already dead and she somehow knew it?

 

[duck&chickencrazy]

one of my hens did this last year to one of the eggs she was layingon...i noticed before she killed it and i had to put it in the incubator to hatch...it survived...

 

[zoomia]

Quote:
Wow, that's pretty much a non-apology apology isn't it? But whatever. Look, a lot gets lost in the anonymity of the web. You might try giving someone the benefit of the doubt before starting to lecture them, and if you can't say what you want nicely (like IggiMom in the first response did), maybe not posting anything at all is a good idea. Anyway, I'm done.

 

[zoomia]

Quote:
You're right--we'll never know. This is her second set of eggs. She went broody about six weeks ago, and I figured I'd hatch some eggs out. I don't have a roo, so got some fertile eggs. The first clutch was six eggs, three of which were developing. I left them under her. She got rid of them all three days before they were set to hatch by rolling them out of the nest. A couple had cracks in them, but I think it was from falling. No pecking like this one. At the time, I just assumed she "knew" that none were viable.

A week later, she was still broody, so I got a clutch of 12 eggs, only four of are were developing. I've left them all under her because the one time I tried to take one away, she got very upset. (Like bokbokking long after I removed it.) I have zero idea why she pecked this one, but yeah, i'd like to think it's an accident. As I say, she is still incubating the remaining 11.

 

[rancher hicks]

Regardless of whether other posters are grossed out or not, it doesn't appear this hen is going to make a good broody.
The question was is this normal and the answer is NO.
Whether you choose to let her have eggs is up to you and of no point to the rest of us.

 

[Serrin]

Quote:
**Slapping my hand down on the table in total agreement** THANK YOU! Rancher Hicks! Couldn't have said it better myself!

 

[drumstick diva]

Zoomia, the bad thing about written posts is the absence of voice inflections that would clue us if you were kidding or not. I thought the same as Mylittlezoo that you were serious. I didn't find her post to be offensive. She didn't write IN CAPS, as though going for your throat. She(we) were hoping it was a joke., albeit a rather 'sick' one. When you open up on a forum, you can't tailor responses . You get what you get.

 

[Bedste]

i am so sorry about your egg and your loss of a broody hen and any future chicks hatched by her. I think that she may have done this by accident and then continued to peck..... but I would never let her hatch another group of eggs or at least give her this season OFF