my pipped egg is gone!

[deapot2]

My egg that pipped this morning is completely gone! Was she hiding it??? Did broody eat it? I don't understand how a hen can actually kill a chick that far along. There is no trace. Please help. We are so sad.

 

[KYTinpusher]

My egg that pipped this morning is completely gone! Was she hiding it??? Did broody eat it? I don't understand how a hen can actually kill a chick that far along. There is no trace. Please help. We are so sad.

I'm so sorry.

I hope you find it.

Was that the only egg she was sitting on? Are there others missing? If the hen had eaten the chick, I would think you would see blood spatters. I would suspect a snake or rat stole the egg myself, but I really don't know.

 

[deapot2]

She wouldn't have moved for a snake or eat, I don't think. I have to physically remove her myself. There are 4 eggs left under her. There was another egg that just disappeared about 10 days ago. There is a wet spot in the box by the other eggs. It is underneath where she sits.

We are going to get an incubator now to try and salvage the rest. Will that work??

 

[KYTinpusher]

She wouldn't have moved for a snake or eat, I don't think. I have to physically remove her myself. There are 4 eggs left under her. There was another egg that just disappeared about 10 days ago. There is a wet spot in the box by the other eggs. It is underneath where she sits.

We are going to get an incubator now to try and salvage the rest. Will that work??

As long as the eggs are still viable, moving them to an incubator should work. But if you don't have one ready, it will probably take a couple days to get it set up and stabilized. Are you sure the egg was pipped and had a chick in it? When are the chicks due to hatch? If the egg didn't develop, or had died, many times the hen will crack them and eat them. Is she in a coop with other hens? If she kicked the egg out of the nest, the other hens would have grabbed it and played keep away with it until one or more of them was able to eat it. Therefore, it could be anywhere that the hens have access to.

BTW, if it is a snake (though thinking about the current temps, that is unlikely), she wouldn't have to move. The snake would just slither under her.

 

[FridayYet]

As long as the eggs are still viable, moving them to an incubator should work. But if you don't have one ready, it will probably take a couple days to get it set up and stabilized. Are you sure the egg was pipped and had a chick in it? When are the chicks due to hatch? If the egg didn't develop, or had died, many times the hen will crack them and eat them. Is she in a coop with other hens? If she kicked the egg out of the nest, the other hens would have grabbed it and played keep away with it until one or more of them was able to eat it. Therefore, it could be anywhere that the hens have access to.

BTW, if it is a snake (though thinking about the current temps, that is unlikely), she wouldn't have to move. The snake would just slither under her.

X2 - I'm thinking snake.

 

[newwestchick]

I lost a chick to a rat that was just about a week old - stolen from the broody. If I hadn't been actually present in the coop to see the broody try to fight the rat, and the chick disappear, I would never have thought that would happen so cleanly without leaving any evidence.
If you have a rat problem you may want to move the remainder to an incubator. Rats are smart and always remember a food source.

 

[rlhagan56]

Hi I just saw this, I'm incubating for the first time in 25 years again. This happened to me a few times in AZ, and it turned out to be a raccoon stealing the eggs just as they pipped. I still can't figure out how the hen was still sitting on the nest! I salvaged the last three putting them in the incubator and they hatched fine. There was never any blood or egg left , it just disappeared.