Embarking on ambitious eggsperiment

[Highlander]

Quote:
Where about in Scotland are you from? I lived there for ten years before moving over here to Thailand. Lived in Insch, Torphins, and then Kincardine O' Neil. I don't think there's a road, street or town north of Aberdeen that I haven't been to....lol. With the cold weather over there, I never thought I would say I miss Scotland, but the truth is, I do. Had a great ten years there and made some great life long friends. Hopefully, I will one day be able to go back for a visit, but with three young kids, going away on holiday to the other side of the world isn't easy.....

Wow, small world! PM'd you.

 

[gvntofly05]

Ohhh!! I just found this thread!

How exciting! I'll be waiting to hear results! Got my

for you!

 

[Tropical Chook]

Well, I had to go away for a few days, and upon my return, I noticed there are only four eggs in the nest now. After a close inspection, there is no trace of any broken eggs, so the chickens are innocent. The dogs cannot get into the coup, so they too have been found innocent. There are no natural predators where we live, that too has been ruled out. So, that leaves my DW, my two kids, and the in-laws. Of course nobody has any idea as to where the missing eggs are, and I have a sneaky suspicion they in-laws may have taken two eggs to eat, not realizing that they were fertile eggs. To say I'm furious would be an understatement because under the circumstances, the chance of any of the 6 hatching were slim, and now with only four left, I really don't much faith in getting any chicks.

Action taken so far:- New padlock for the run/coop. Entry into the coop/run is strictly prohibited unless I am present. New order will be placed for 24 eggs within the next week or so.

What really gets me is that you can get 30 grocery store eggs for $3 over here, and if someone did put the two missing eggs in a pan, those two eggs cost $6.............a darn expensive omelet if you ask me. Of course added to that is the fact that I will have to order more now, but it's really not about the money. It's just disappointing.

 

[Highlander]

Oh no, that's not good. Could it have been some of the local wildlife? Snake or rat for example?

 

[Oven Ready]

Depending on your coop setup, it could be a snake, a coucal (Ka-Wow in Thai - the black and reddish-brown bird that looks like a european magpie) or the chipmunk / squirrely type thing we get round here. We've had all of these take eggs and the snakes don't have to be big to take an egg.

Of course the in-laws, assuming they are Thai, would be the most likely suspects because half developed chicks and dead on hatching chicks are a bit of a delicacy to some folks.

Maybe you'll get lucky with the remaining four.

 

[Kedreeva]

Oof, that sucks! Good luck with the remaining four... wish I could help! I would gladly send eggs if I could just to see how it would go! I don't think shipping from the US is allowed though...

 

[LaurenM23]

Oh no! What a mystery...fingers crossed for the remaining eggies!!!

 

[PunkinPeep]

Quote:
In my personal experience, brooding hens will sometimes eat entire eggs after they discover (by brooding hen intuition) that the egg is no good - or not developing. Especially since they had several days to finish off the shell and everything. I wouldn't necessarily rule that out as an option. I haven't had any egg eating problems from my chickens other than that, by the way. They leave the eating eggs and developing eggs just as they should. Some hens push the bad ones out of the nest; mine have lunch!

 

[teresa-78]

My broody hen munched her way through 2 eggs, I counted them one day and 2 were missing, apart from a tiny speck of shell she missed, I gathered they were bad so she disposed of them to deter preditors, hope this was the same case for you... good luck with the other 4 eggs

 

[iluvsedward]

Have Fun