bibliophile birds
Lovin' The Homestead
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?
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?