Where are my eggs going too?

[lorrir]

I have a broody Buff sitting on some eggs, she started on 6-19, I dutifuly marked 5 eggs with that date and have been removing the unmarked ones that all of the other hens are giving her. She "lost" a couple of the 6-19 eggs, so I let her keep 6 more eggs and marked them 6-25.

Now she has 5 marked eggs left. I marked the eggs very well with a sharpie. I put large X on one side and the date on the other. No way I could be pulling the marked eggs.

What is she doing with them? By the way I candled a 6-19 egg and saw lots of veining and a large dark blob and a well defined air pocket on the small end of the egg. Think I have a baby brewing in there.

Where are my eggs going? They are not laying around the coop

 

[TexasVet]

Most likely a snake is getting them during the night. I had a duck sitting on 7 eggs, then she had 5, then 3. Then I found a dead rat snake tangled up in some bird netting that I'd dropped near the door to her nesting area... two large lumps about midway down it's body. She hasn't lost an egg since.

Racoons and possums will steal eggs too, but they usually break them, eat the insides, and leave the shells for you to find.

Kathy, Bellville TX
www.CountryChickens.com, www.PivotalForce.com