Setting hens eggs disappearing - what's going on here!?

[kristenm1975]

I put a dozen fertilized eggs under my gold-laced wyandotte hen about two days into her broody stage. Since then two have disappeared without a trace. I got into the hen house looked thoroughly for it, I looked around the run, outside the coop and run altogether, and saw nothing. There's no shell fragments to indicate it was broken and eaten, nor is there any residue on any of the other eggs. I am beyond baffled. I know hens will sometimes kick an egg out of the nest that they feel is not developing, but this is bizarre!

 

[Dirt Road]

You didn't mention how long your hen has been on the clutch of eggs you gave her. There are lots of egg predators in this world, some of which are pretty clever. If they are making their move while the hen is off eating, she might be chasing them away but too late to prevent them managing to pilfer an egg. A partial list would include rats, squirrels, snakes, ravens, crows, and magpies (magpies however will usually break all the eggs immediately then carry them off after the hen leaves in despair or disgust). Those are just some of the ones she could stand up to in a scrap. Can other chickens get to the nest? Some egg eating chickens are pretty sly with their perversion. Would need a lot more info to give even a decent guess. Hope you solve the mystery.

Jim

 

[kristenm1975]

Hey Jim, thanks for the info. My hen has been sitting on this clutch of eggs since the 6th of this month, so she's close to hatch-time. We don't have any snakes other than tiny garter snakes around here on Whidbey Island, so the odds of that are slim to none. I've only seen one raccoon around here in the 9 months we've lived here, so that narrows the possibilities on that one.

The other hens can access the nest box, but I would think there would have to be some evidence if they were stealing and/or eating the eggs. I turned the coop upside down, and there are no egg fragments, not even anything that resembles them.

The broody is very persistent and sits on her eggs for days at a time without getting up. In the past week, she's taken to getting up in the mornings to eat/stretch/groom, but I'm home 24/7 and have the coop in full view of the house, so I can't imagine anything happening while I'm here.

Weird!

 

[The Wolf Queen]

Some could have been buried in the straw or shavings. That happened to one of my banty eggs and it still hatched.

 

[LoveMyBirds]

Quote:
And to add to what Dirt Road just stated... Do you have any Turkeys ..

I have a turkey that I believe might be eating mine.. I seen an egg the other day on the floor broken and that evening every bit was gone.. Not a single little shell bit..

 

[kycklingar!]

Rat snake? They leave no trace...