broken hatching eggs **A PIP!**

[bibliophile birds]

i posted this on BYC, with no answers so far. figured i'd try here.

i've got a section of my coop closed off as an isolation room. i've been using it for broody hens for the past several weeks. the first hen that went broody was my little Silkie and she pulled off hatching 6/7 eggs with not a single problem (7 was a dud). the day i moved her to the house for her hatch, i put two of my Buff Orps who were broody in the room with some eggs. over the next week, i found 3 broken eggs. the first was out on the floor, cracked but still had goo in it. the next two i found as completely empty egg shells IN the nest boxes, being sat on. i assumed something (probably a rat) was getting in and eating them... so i moved the broodies to the house a week ago where they'd be safer. that seemed to solve my broken egg problem.

i went down this morning to feed and check on them. the hatch should start tomorrow so i just wanted to see if there were any early pips or anything. i picked up hen #2 and only saw 3 eggs when she should have had 4. then i felt it stuck to her feathers. when i pulled it away, there was a large whole on the side and i could clearly see a well-formed dead chick. the albumen that was leaking out didn't look right and it had a slight smell.

so, my questions are:

- does it sound like the previous broken eggs and this incidence are completely unconnected and just bad luck?
- is it common for eggs to get stuck in hens' feathers? is there any way to stop it?
- do you think this egg was bad and bust (hence sticking in her feathers) or that it just got icky since it bust?

 

[Rebecka]

Okay, I am totally new to the chicken thing. However, I am a reading freak. I was just reading about how its fairly common for chickens to destroy eggs. If you feel like your coop is sealed up good, I read that you should look for chickens that are especially agitated and signs of egg parts on them. That they are likely the cause. I may be completely off here, I was just stricken to respond because I was just reading that to the chickens this very evening.

 

[bibliophile birds]

i've never had a single egg eaten before this. that's what was so suspicious- it was just these hatching eggs. the first one could have been a dud that the hen rolled out, but the others make no sense to me.

thanks for responding though! it's good to know i'm not screaming into the wind.

eta: i'm new to hatching (and fairly new to chickens). my first hatch was just 3 weeks ago, so i'm running on mostly what i've read too. welcome to the chicken club!

 

[big brown horse]

I've had broodies do this before. Happened the Iast time just a few months ago too. I assumed it was the hen "cuIIing" dud eggs. I never had nor do I currentIy have egg eaters, yet they do end up with a few "eaten" (or somehow removed) dud eggs. It makes everything a mess, incIuding the hen's feathers sometimes, but it aII works out in the end. They know what they are doing.

 

[bibliophile birds]

do you think that would explain the one today? that it just died in the shell and she was "taking care of it"?

 

[big brown horse]

I'm no expert, hopefully someone more chicken-y will chime in, but I have had them "discard" eggs almost up to hatch date. I trusted their decision. It seems that they just know when one isn't going to make it to the end.

Are they all about to hatch and perhaps this early one just didn't make it? (Ive had that happen before too, a chick almost hatched yet died for some reason...even though the hen (and I) seemed to do everything by the books.)

 

[bibliophile birds]

Are they all about to hatch and perhaps this early one just didn't make it?

they should be hatching tomorrow and i'm guessing this one got opened and stuck sometime yesterday (since i didn't check them then and it was there this morning). that's really early for an early hatch.

i'm not too chuffed if it was just a failure to thrive thing. i was just curious if it was a hatch-then-get-stuck thing or a get-stuck-and-break-open thing... i think it being stuck in her feathers was the part that really kinda freaked me out- coupled with all the previous broken ones.

like i said, my only other hatching experience was with my Silkie, who didn't have a single problem. i had to take the dud egg away from her after the others hatched cause she was still sitting on it like a champ. she's spoiled me apparently.

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

one of my hens was a nightmare and killed all her eggs. it. was. gross.

i'm not sure there is an explanation - maybe she didnt know what we was doing? overly hot weather? scared by something?

that being said, my best broody duck killed, intentionally or maybe not, most of her eggs when another hen got stuck beside her nest (behind a box).... they apparently fought thru the screening for most of the afternoon.

so maybe you hen was afraid of something? maybe the shell was weak?

you might just want to chalk it up to "crazy things happen"

sorry
:-(

 

[bibliophile birds]

you might just want to chalk it up to "crazy things happen"

that's the current plan of action. it was solidified by the other broody Orp giving up on her nest last night... when hatch is supposed to start TODAY. stupid. bloody. chicken!

i went down to check on them and turn the light off and she was laying in the shavings NEXT to her next box full of eggs. the eggs were cool but not cold. i placed her back on them and she hopped off again. i placed her on them again and flicked the lights off super fast. that did the trick, for the night at least.

this morning, as soon as the light went on she was off the nest. not bothered at all. so i shuffled her eggs over to the other Orp and sent her back to the main coop. she seemed relieved to be free of her "job."

i'm having serious doubts about anything hatching. but i had serious doubts with the Silkie and she hatched 6/7. i think i'll stick to Silkie broodies in the future.

 

[bibliophile birds]

i just checked on the eggs for the night and heard chirping! no pips yet, but there's something in at least one of those eggs!