Burrying eggs??

[Sihschris]

That’s what I was wondering

I assure y'all, I was not joking. I've literally never seen this before

 

[Sihschris]

My hens like dirt baths and constantly dig holes. I said in an earlier post, I wonder if they dug the hole and laid in it, sat on the eggs, with me thinking dirt bath or just sitting, then buried them when they left. My dad said chickens will bury the eggs if they're afraid of an egg eater, which is entirely possible someone is eating eggs since I have 8 hens and getting 5'ish eggs a day. When they laid the next one, dug the eggs up, laid the egg and sat on it. I cannot confirm that is what happened, BUT I can confirm that eggs did hatch in the soil and they were yellow with white spots which is my leghorn hen mixed with Welsummer Rooster.

Also, I use the hot litter method in their run, meaning I let them compost natural litter, so compost gets warm, so it might be feasible that it got warm enough????

They're a week old and in the brooder since the hens didn't really protect them

 

[Sihschris]

Because we have weird interests or too much time on our hands?


I found a book from 1911, talking about selling eggs and what not to do. This was before refrigeration was widely available, and the author said "In the season of 1901 hatched chickens were commonly found in cases of market eggs, throughout the trans-Mississippi region."

For that, I'm thinking it was a combination of weather conditions, plus a whole crate of eggs being big enough that conditions inside might be relatively stable. (The outer edges might get hotter and cooler, but the middle might hold a fairly stable temperature.) And of course he didn't say anything about the hatch rate, given that he was telling people what not to do with eggs for eating.

He was talking as if partly-developed eggs were a very common thing in eggs being sold for eating during summer months, but the hatched chicks were unusual.

The book was "The Dollar Hen" by Milo Hastings, available for free online at Project Gutenberg.

Remembering that, I thought it was quite interesting to see a more recent report of something with a slight resemblance (eggs hatching without any person or apparently any broody hen tending them.)

Also, I'm in the south. It's been 80'ish during the days so it's feasible the soil could have gotten warm enough to incubate. I also use the hot litter method for their bedding and we see how warm natural composting is. I'm almost tempted to experiment with fertile eggs in the dirt

 

[Chicken_Obsesser]

Please do

 

[NatJ]

Also, I'm in the south. It's been 80'ish during the days so it's feasible the soil could have gotten warm enough to incubate. I also use the hot litter method for their bedding and we see how warm natural composting is. I'm almost tempted to experiment with fertile eggs in the dirt

If you do experiment, please do post what happens. I'm definitely curious!

 

[Krazikatlady64]

If you do experiment, please do post what happens. I'm definitely curious!

Following! This is absolutely fascinating!

 

[MommyGirl]