I have my broody hen isolated in the pen, on 13-make that 11-fertile eggs I ordered from someone here.
Twice now, I have found a mostly empty egg shell out of the nest. First time I thought she might have accidentally broken it getting back on the nest(13 was an awefull big number to brood), and then after removing it from the nest, decided it's contents were tasty. Reasonably certain it was a good egg, the contents appeared to be developing. Then it happened again yesterday. Shell looked crushed, not pecked, and contents were most cleaned. No stink of a bad egg.
It occurred to me this could have been a rat or muskrat, as there are some in the area. There are no racoons, skunks, or opossums around here. Set out a rat trap where none of my hens could get to it.
Is this normal for a muskrat? Or was my first instinct correct and it's my hen eating the embryos?
Twice now, I have found a mostly empty egg shell out of the nest. First time I thought she might have accidentally broken it getting back on the nest(13 was an awefull big number to brood), and then after removing it from the nest, decided it's contents were tasty. Reasonably certain it was a good egg, the contents appeared to be developing. Then it happened again yesterday. Shell looked crushed, not pecked, and contents were most cleaned. No stink of a bad egg.
It occurred to me this could have been a rat or muskrat, as there are some in the area. There are no racoons, skunks, or opossums around here. Set out a rat trap where none of my hens could get to it.
Is this normal for a muskrat? Or was my first instinct correct and it's my hen eating the embryos?
