Disapearing eggs and what about the rest

[eggcited2]

Well, good news so far is that the one baby turkey is still alive and seems ok. We got about 5 inches of rain in this area over the past 24 hours (according to the st. louis tv news).

I went to check the nest (this evening) and found some eggs were gone. No trace of them at all. Four weeks ago (almost 5 weeks now) she was setting on 10 eggs. The baby showed up yesterday. Where could the missing eggs have gone? Could a snake have slid under her and got some of the eggs? We had some live traps set out for raccoons and two were caught over night. Could they have gotten some of the eggs?

Out of the eggs left, a couple of them look like limp flat balloons. I think three are still "egg" looking. What should I do with those? Bury them, leave them for her to set on another few days, or something else. We know she was setting on the nest on Thursday, June. 17.

 

[ivan3]

Snake? Unlikely (turkey hens harass/kill snakes when not brooding, and usually won't suffer one to live if on the nest when one slithers up). `Limp, flat balloons' as in crushed? That would be suggestive of a snake, maybe.
Coon? Hen wounded/killed, eggs gone.
Hens will eat eggs that aren't viable, but not rotten.
If the egg has `gone over' they'll often carry it to some distance from the nest and drop it.

If the poult is with the hen I'd not let her keep setting much longer (7-10 days at most).


Our hen started brooding with 22 eggs (just kept laying), one hatched (Just short of two months old and enjoying the thunder at present) and we finally removed the remaining 4 eggs before the Royal tom (took over the nest) had one or more explode on his beard. Where did the other seventeen go? Diet and dumping.

Here she is at it a few years ago:

Good luck with the poult!