[madbantamlady]

Hi got a very grumpy broody sat on a clutch and as usual she has kicked off the infertile ones, however she ate one of them and then today she has picked off the shell from around one of the chicks. Needless to say it is dead, is this the reason she picked the shell off bit by bit? There are two eggs left. Should I remove them and put them into the incubator or leave them be. Have never had one peel the shell off before or one so foul tempered. Ha Ha Ha Any advice would be great please

[The Chicken Lady]

I don't really know the answer to your question. When are the eggs due to hatch? If there is a long way to go I would proberbly put them in the incubator but if only a day or so leave them. What are you feeding her? I have never had that problem apart from a very grumpy broody

[diamond_lil]

I have never known a broody hen to eat her eggs when she is sitting on them. Do you think the chicks might be dead and she can tell? Am I right in saying that egg eating is a bad habit that is hard to cure? I think we have a hen (not broody) who is eating the eggs, but we can't find out which one it is.

[muntjac]

let her set the rest , remove all traces of the remains  reset her bedding and replace the eggs quickly while she is taken off them ...... if thye hatch all well and good . dont breed from her for the rest the year .if ur able to put the chicks ( if any come ) onto another banty i would do  so in the dark . hope that helps ......i usualy eat bad hens  

[Gardening Mark]

Ive also had a little trouble similar to yours... I had 10 eggs under a bantam, some were not hers. After a couple of days she had got rid of 3 of them, could only find the remains of 1 of the shells. Thats was a couple of days ago. I got there today and there was another 1, covered in poo and away from her nest. It was absolutley freezing so must of been there a while. I know she couldnt of rolled it away as there a bricks around the nest, so I'm thinking it stuck to her dirty bum (as she has been pooing where she is sometimes) I know it sounds dirty... and when she had a poo it fell off and had to stay there. Its a shame as there was a half formed chick there as she had been sitting for nearly 2 weeks now. I know she is not normally an egg eater, and she has never done this before while brooding, so it's just one of those things I think. Sorry though bantamlady, it's a mare when things go wrong.