Eggs gone -- completely dissappeared!!??

[Miizki]

I live in a suburban neighborhood in the desert. I was letting my silkie hatch about eight eggs. After one week, one egg mysteriously dissappeared. Then today, (two days before hatching!

) two eggs suddenly dissappeared once again! It's like they never even existed, there are no shells or anything. I have no idea what could have taken them. I left the coop door open today (which I never usually do unless I am outside too) for only a few hours because my family was having a pool party. So maybe a bird had taken them or something. The mother is always on the nest though. It just doesn't make any sense. What could have happened?

 

[happyhensny]

There are many predators that will take a whole egg. Snakes are one I can remember reading about.

 

[geepy]

I think you have a snake taking the eggs. They will sneek under the hen and eat the eggs.

editted to say

 

[Sir Birdaholic]

Sounds like maybe a snake is visiting. This happened to my turkey 2 years ago. She started with 14 eggs, & a very large black snake would rob the eggs from underneath her. I went in one day & she was standing over her eggs with about a 6 foot snake in the nest too. She had 3 eggs left & they all hatched. We won't mention what happened to the snake!

 

[Miizki]

Oh I hope it isn't a snake. We have lived here for ten years and have only found one snake, a baby rattlesnake, a year or two ago. I would think that my dog would go crazy and bark like the last time when the rattlesnake was in our backyard. But maybe if it was a snake then she just is ignoring it? I am fairly certain that my dog didn't take them because she doesn't eat the shells so they would be everywhere if she had eaten them. I really hope that no more eggs 'mysteriously' dissappear...

 

[kuntrygirl]

I would say that it's a snake.