The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Poultry & Waterfowl => Topic started by: Rollicker on May 25, 2010, 05:12:28 pm
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Well I declare ! We've a mystery to solve !
Let the chickens out this morning as usual, and as usual had to lift Omo, the whiter than white broody sussex off her clutch of seven eggs.
Went out for a few hours, came back to find Omo sitting there but not an egg to be seen !
No broken shell, no yolk stains, not a thing.
She's in a broody coop but can get out with the others to stretch her legs etc.
Anybody any ideas? Have never seen a rat here (we live in Britanny) Could it be a crow or rook?
Over to you guys.
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I am losing eggs just lately, not hatching ones, just in the nests. I have a feeling its magpies or crows, as they have nests in the trees, and I can hear the young squawking. Today for example, I am at least 10 eggs down, which is a lot, but I am sure the hens are laying. Rats too will take them, but I would guess at the birds. They are clever, and I have watched them listen for the hens to declare they have laid and then swoop down.
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Yes, we've got a pair of magpies and some crows in the wood at the bottom of the paddock.
I reckon it could well be them.
Out with the binoculars and a comfy chair!
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We're losing eggs to magpies, as we did last year. Sometimes the broken eggs are left in the nestbox, empty or full but I suspect some are going, given the current yield.