BPM83
In the Brooder
I have two hens currently sitting on eggs, a Cochin and a Jersey Giant. Yesterday one of the eggs under my cochin hatched and I found the baby outside her nesting box, still wet. It had been pecked at and had a bloated tummy. It almost looked like it had been pulled from the egg too soon. It was alive when I found it but died 12 hours later. I checked the other eggs this morning and none were beginning to hatch. This afternoon I checked again and one of the eggs under my Jersey Giant had hatched but there was no chick and no trace of one anywhere. I can not figure out what is going on. The only other birds in that coop today were another Cochin hen, a tiny Silkie hen and my Ayam Cemani rooster (my nicest roo). None of them are aggressive and the Jersey hen is twice the size of even the rooster. I don't think they would date mess with her baby. The small front door to the coop was open but it is raised 3 feet off the ground, so I know a snake did not get in. Plus I've never even seen one on my property. I've never seen a rat either and I have two barn cats that are excellent mousers and roam around the coops all day. I also know it was not one of the cats. They have never so much as hissed at one of the chickens. When it is cold they will even sleep on the brooder box under the heat lamp and pay no attention to the chicks below. The only daytime predator I've ever had are hawks. I had a fox try to get a turkey just one time, one possum attack that ended with my husband shooting the little bastard and one owl attack on a couple guineas. I have two 100lb American Bulldogs and a big turkey tom that keep most predators away. Nothing has ever gotten in that coop. So what in the world is happening??
**(Side note - normally I put the mom and her eggs in a seperate cage just before they hatch but the hens kept swapping eggs and my dates rubbed off the eggs.)
**(Side note - normally I put the mom and her eggs in a seperate cage just before they hatch but the hens kept swapping eggs and my dates rubbed off the eggs.)