She ate her eggs!

[ozarkchick]

My hen started setting 22 days ago. When she started setting I gave her five eggs from the other hens for a total if 9 eggs. By day 2 she had eleven eggs and stopped laying. I had her set up in a very large dog crate so nothing could disturb her. I saw no evidence that she ever got off her nest for feed or water. In the beginning I took her off but after day seven I stopped because she would get so upset. She smelled horrible. Day 21 came and went. No babies. Day 22 I took her off the nest. Only two eggs left. She ate her eggs! I put a heat lamp on the two remaining eggs but that didn't work. Anyway anyone ever heard of this?

 

[Judy]

No -- but I did have a broody who ate her chicks as they hatched. I caught her eating the last one. They can do some strange things. I personally suspect that because hatcheries breed for egg laying, they tend to breed out the brooding instinct, and sometimes this results in a messed up instinct. I've read about broodies who wouldn't get up to eat or drink without being forced to, though. They can actually die of starvation.

 

[ozarkchick]

Oops guess I don't know how to so this yet. Anyway I was trying to say that I had read info assuring me that she would get up and eat and not starve herself.

 

[bobbi-j]

Most of them will get off the nest to eat and drink. After all, chickens have been reproducing for centuries without human intervention. How do you think they did it if they weren't smart enough to get off the nest and eat and drink once in a while? Starving to death would be a horrible way for a chicken to die, I'm not saying one should allow that to happen. But if I had one that wouldn't get off the nest to eat and drink and I had to baby her, I'm not sure I'd let her go broody ever again. Nor would I hatch out any of her eggs. Best not to be reproducing those. You only want the smart ones in the gene pool.

 

[Mrs. K]

I wonder if something else ate you eggs.

But then I saw you mention the smell, that is almost always from an egg that did not live, and therefore, rotted. They sometimes explode, once I had to wash the remaining eggs, and still got a decent hatch.

Generally people bother their hens too much, it is just hard to leave them alone, but that is what is best. Nearly all small animals, if they are upset enough will eat their young, or at least in my experience, rabbits, and cats, or if there is a deformity.

Mrs K