Mystery of the missing eggs...

[wanda047]

I have two broody hens. Hen #1 (Emma, an EE) has repeatedly tried to sit on eggs, but I really didn't want any more chicks right now. Every morning I would find rocks in her nest and her sitting proudly on her "eggs". I finally felt sorry for her and gave in and let her have 4 eggs. the next day I noticed that my collection of eggs seemed a little short. sure enough, I looked under Emma and found a total of 8 eggs. "Bad chicken" I told her

I then made the decision to place her inside a locked two-section partitioned cage with her nest where she could swipe no more eggs.

In the meantime, Hen #2 (Daisy, a BO) went broody. Deciding I didn't want to go through the same issues with her as I had Emma, I placed Daisy in the other side of the cage and gave her 4 of Emma's eggs. Both hens have been sitting for a couple of weeks and both seemed content in their new home with their nests of eggs. Knowing it would soon be time for the eggs to hatch, I decided to check on the eggs this afternoon. Emma's eggs all appear to be fine, but found Daisy sitting on NOTHING!!

After questioning all the family members as to whether or not any of them had removed the eggs from under Daisy and getting "NO" as their response I returned to the hen house to again examine Daisy's nest. Again I found no eggs, but did find remains of one broken egg shoved into one corner of the wire cage. Do you supposed she ate them?? Or is it possible that something climbed through the 1x2 wiring and ate them, a snake possibly? I seriously doubt that a snake would take one hen's eggs and leave the other. though I could be wrong. Anybody have any ideas why this silly hen is now sitting on an empty nest... and should I give her more eggs? I opened her cage, but she is refusing to leave her nest.

 

[Tamrajh]

How does one hen move rocks or eggs to her nest? I'm fairly new to chickens and haven't had any hens go broody yet (unless I didn't know what was happening).

 

[wanda047]

Well, I'm not exactly sure, though I did find an egg tucked up underneath one of my hen's wings one time, so I'm assuming she used her beak/head to somehow push the egg up under her wing, where she was holding it tightly. She was a little egg snatcher too!

Emma (hen #1) was so bad about putting rocks in the hens' nest, that it was a daily ritual to remove the rocks (egg size and smaller) each and every time I went to gather eggs. It was actually a bit annoying. LOL She's such a good hen though ... otherwise she'd find herself in a pot.

 

[yotetrapper]

I've had lots of broodys eat their eggs. But then again I have a coop full of darned egg eaters.

 

[firedove]

Hens move eggs (and rocks) either by tucking them under a wing or even in the feathers against their chest. They can hold them quite tightly. My broody last year used to hide eggs under her wing whenever we went to take out the extra eggs. She was in with our other hens so we marked her original 4 eggs and removed unmarked eggs daily. I had one broody who would collect all the eggs from all the nests and stick them into her nest every day.

My guess would be that your second broody did indeed eat her eggs. I wouldn't let her sit eggs again and would watch her closely to see if she is going to be a habitual egg eater.

Also, you should line your cage with smaller wire. 1x2 wire will keep your hen just fine but if a chick hatches and starts to wander it can fit right through the gaps and end up out on it's own where something else might eat it. I had a broody in a cage last summer and her chick wandered out through the 1x1 wire on the front and got eaten by the rest of the flock

My broody couldn't protect the chick since the 1x1 wire stopped her from getting through. Now I have 1/2" or smaller hardware cloth over the lower parts of all cages to prevent chick loss.

 

[wanda047]

Quote:
Very good point... actually one side of this cage does have the smaller 1/2" hardware cloth around the bottom half but think I'll finish covering the entire thing. it might also keep snakes out.

I really just wish the girls would let me do the hatching! It's so much simpler that way...

 

[geebs]

A quick solution for that is saran wrap... If they are in a cage and you don't have hardware cloth handy.... I have used saran wrap... Works in pinch!!!