What happened to my eggs?

[Bedheadkg]

My broody hen has been sitting on 7 eggs for 2 1/2 weeks (due to hatch Thursday/Friday). We’ve been out all day and when I went to put the hens to bed this evening, and get the other 2 hens eggs, 2 of her eggs were missing from the nest. I found one of them at the bottom of the ramp out of the coop, but the other one has vanished. One of my other hens has been pecking about under the coop in a very interested fashion, so my guess is that the other one broke, and she’s eaten it, but why have they been removed from the nest? Has the broody thrown them out because she knew they were no good? Has one of the other hens stolen them for some reason? Any ideas?

 

[ChickenJerk]

My broody hen has been sitting on 7 eggs for 2 1/2 weeks (due to hatch Thursday/Friday). We’ve been out all day and when I went to put the hens to bed this evening, and get the other 2 hens eggs, 2 of her eggs were missing from the nest. I found one of them at the bottom of the ramp out of the coop, but the other one has vanished. One of my other hens has been pecking about under the coop in a very interested fashion, so my guess is that the other one broke, and she’s eaten it, but why have they been removed from the nest? Has the broody thrown them out because she knew they were no good? Has one of the other hens stolen them for some reason? Any ideas?

Originally Posted by Bedheadkg

My broody hen has been sitting on 7 eggs for 2 1/2 weeks (due to hatch Thursday/Friday). We’ve been out all day and when I went to put the hens to bed this evening, and get the other 2 hens eggs, 2 of her eggs were missing from the nest. I found one of them at the bottom of the ramp out of the coop Broken?, but the other one has vanished. One of my other hens has been pecking about under the coop in a very interested fashion, so my guess is that the other one broke, and she’s eaten it, Very possible but why have they been removed from the nest? Has the broody thrown them out because she knew they were no good? Probable. Has one of the other hens stolen them for some reason? Doubtful Any ideas? Rat, skunk, o'possum

 

[Bedheadkg]

The one I found wasn't broken, but it was stone cold and had obviously been there a while, so it went in the bin. It could be a rat, but I've not seen any signs of rat before and the chickens are next to the house, and the cat comes in and out through the chicken enclosure several time a day. The cat is also a very accomplished vermin killer, so it would be a brave rat! Definitely not a skunk, raccoon or o'possum as we don't have any of those in sunny old England.

 

[ChickenJerk]

You are lucky! Hope you don't have raccoons either.

Did you check or observe if the rejected egg had an embryo in it?

 

[Bedheadkg]

No, I didn't think to until after I'd thrown it away and of course it fell down the side of the bin and is now underneath about 3 days of rubbish, so I'm not fishing it back out!! This is all new to me, I didn't actually have any plans to hatch eggs, but Nugget was so determined to be broody that a friend who lives on a farm has 'leant' me some eggs for her!! Once they hatch they are staying here till they get too big to fit in my (small) coop, and then they are going back to live on the farm, except for one that we will keep, assuming we don't end up with all roos.

 

[ChickenLegs13]

I've found partially developed eggs with a hole in the side 30' from my pens. Only thing I can figure is that when the hen got off the nest to do her feed & poo some of the Blue Jays that are always hanging around robbed the nest.
If you don't have a lip on the front of the nest box maybe another hen got in the nest and they started squawking each other and accidently kicked the eggs out.

 

[Bedheadkg]

There is a lip on the nest box, and the box is at the opposite side of the coop from the pop hole, so I don't think both eggs can have been removed by accident. My friend (who provided the eggs) came round this morning and rummaged about in my bin until she had managed to investigate the contents of the egg I found, it did have a fairly well developed chick in it. The chicken that was chief suspect for eating the missing egg has a bit of a dodgy tummy today, so the current theory is that mumma chicken was removing a bad egg, that smashed and was eaten by pig chicken. The egg I found seems to have been accidentaly rolled out at the same time, but given the state of the chick inside, my friend and chicken expert is hopeful for a good hatch from the remaining 5 eggs.