One of our hens went broody a couple weeks ago, and about 1wk after she started we found a broken egg outside the nest, completely empty, with a bit of yolk near the nest. Because we have rats in our area, I immediately thought rats had taken her egg and broke it. We moved the hen to a secure spot away from the main chicken coop. A few days ago, we found another egg, with a developed chick, probably day 12-14, broken outside the nest. No predator could get to the hen. Is it possible she broke the egg? Why would she do that? So far, there haven't been anymore eggs being broken, but I'm afraid that she might do it again, and we'll lose the whole clutch before they hatch in about a week. Help? F.V
I've had broodies push eggs out because the chick died or because the egg was going bad. I always assume that if the hen gets rid of them, she knows what she's doing.
I read that hens and chicks in the eggs communicate during the nesting period. I can't remember when it starts, but there is a small vocabulary including comfort sounds, help, I'm lonely, to name a few. I would guess when hen pushes an egg out latter in the incubation period, the chick died and was silent.
If there is not enough nesting material in the nest hens can inadvertantly crack eggs while moving around in the nest. In order to maintain a clean nest, they will then either eat or remove the broken eggs. Some larger hens are just very clumsy and more likely to break eggs when moving in or out of the nest. If other hens have access to the nest, they may be trying to lay eggs there. The resultant quarreling and jostling around can break eggs.
