HELP!!! Egg mysteriously dissapears!!!!

[Amy's Animals]

My hen is brooding out 4 eggs that were due 3 days ago. Still no chicks though. Now, 1 of the 4 eggs has dissapeared! It was there yesterday and now its gone without a trace. I looked all around and couldn't find it. I lock the henhouse at night so nothing could have gotten in at night. In the morning I open the door up to her individual cubicle for fresh air. Now, an egg is gone?? What happend????!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Eggs4Sale]

A snake couldn't have gotten in? They can get in pretty small holes...

BTW... You've got to candle your eggs and tell us if they're fertile or duds! Now my interest is all piqued....

 

[journey's end]

I had that happen one night. Only for me it was the whole clutch at day 18. I was told it could have been a rat.

 

[tiffanyh]

I was thinking rat.....

 

[Amy's Animals]

Yeah, I was thinking snake but it only got one egg, the one that had a crack in it! I only have a couple small henhouses that are slightly off the ground and we live in a rat-free area so the last thing it could have been is a rat. It is just so weird, it was there yesterday!

 

[tiffanyh]

Rat free area?? Is that possible when you have chickens???

 

[Amy's Animals]

Quote:
I know they are fertile, she's been the one my roo has satisfied his lusts on these last 2 months! I don't know how to candle, I've thought about it but I have no idea how/what to look for!

 

[Eggs4Sale]

Quote:
We don't have rats either, but we make up for it with rattlesnakes and scorpions. Ratts, rattlesnakes, hmmmmm.

Rats. They freak me out just watching that Verminator show.

 

[Amy's Animals]

Quote:
I'm not sure if you are mocking me but if I wasn't sure that we didn't have rats then I wouldn't have said it. If you lived here, you would've understood. It's possible, trust me.

 

[Eggs4Sale]

Amy's Animals :

Quote:
I know they are fertile, she's been the one my roo has satisfied his lusts on these last 2 months! I don't know how to candle, I've thought about it but I have no idea how/what to look for!

I used a really strong LED flashlight. There are many threads on here that show you easy ways. I also cut a hole in cardboard for the egg to rest in (without falling through) and looked 'into' it using a bare lightbulb. The flashlight worked much better. I found out my eggs were not developing. The heat stopped that. On a hatching page, a lady wrote that eggs have to stay at 99 - 100 degrees, and at 105, your eggs are goners. Mine were in 120 degrees without the hen, so.... broody hen - 0, summer heat - 1.​