So Upset! All hatching eggs are gone!!!!!

[Chicken Lover a(TM)?]

I have a Buff setting on eggs. They are fertile and I have her seperated into a very private place. We call it the Mamma/baby pen and she is locked in the pen made of chicken wire. She is resting up high in a box.
Last night it was going to rain, so I moved her barrel a little closer to one side of the pen away from the wall because sometimes the rain blows in a few of the cracks. I locked the pen last night (latch) and went it. This morning her nest was sabatoged and she only has one cracked egg left! We've had a skunk in there the previous night, but didn't shoot it because that would have been horrible trying to get the smell out of the barn for years! There really wasn't a place where the skunk could get in, and this mom has been very serious about setting. So would a skunk eat eggs and leave the mom? Would she eat the eggs herself?! Now we have to start all over again. Terribly frustrated!

 

[spiritdance]

Skunks LOOOOOVE eggs, and they can squeeze in holes you wouldn't think a worm could get through! I'm betting that's your culprit.

 

[Chicken Lover a(TM)?]

Thanks. We fixed the holes and added more protection around her. We shot the skunk tonight....any ideas how to get the smell out of the chicken barn? It's SOOOOOOO bad!

 

[chickintexas]

No clue on how to get the skunk smell out. You may want to repost this in the predator section, though, in case someone has a tip for you. I don't think the smell will last that long. There's been plenty of times where I've passed road kill skunk on my way to work and in about a week, the smell is gone.

 

[Chicken Lover a(TM)?]

Haha. Thanks for the advice. However passing skunk on the road is NOTHING like this....multiply it by 100! It's coming through the windows of the house....yikes!

 

[chickintexas]

I've had a dog sprayed by a skunk. You'd think they'd run howling from it. Nope. Not my great dane b!tch. She had her nose right up that skunk's butt the entire time it was spraying and was dang proud to share when she finally came back to my screaming voice!!!!