Are hens eating eggs?

[Sherris Backyard Beauties]

Are hens eating eggs? I just went in to collect my eggs for the day, I range between 5-7 a day. I took out 1 lone egg that was in there and it was covered in yolk and a few broken egg shells. Do hens or a rooster eat eggs? Do you think I have a predator that would only eat eggs and not my chickens? I am not missing any chickens.? I'm confused, sorry if anyone thinks my questions are silly, but I'm curious if anyones had the same problem.

 

[arlee453]

Some hens do get in the habit of eating eggs. It might just be a mistake - one getting broken by accident, or may be a purposeful thing if you have an egg eater in your bunch.

Probably starts when an egg gets accidentally broken, and then one or more of them figure out how good they are.

Anyway, if you do a search you'll find a lot of tips for breaking egg eaters. The easiest is just to collect eggs very frequently. There are others involving cayenne pepper, etc to break habitual egg breakers/eaters.

Good luck - and ask away! That's not a silly question by any means!

Oh, and there are predators that do eat eggs only - sometimes rats, possums, also snakes, etc, but your description sounds more like a chicken at work to me...

 

[newbiecaroline]

I had chickens back in the seventies (I'm old I know) but when they started eating their eggs a farmer told me to buy oyster shell, put a handfull in their feed, and that did the trick.
caroline

 

[MBLayfield]

Sounds like they are eating them to me. That happened to me all the time. I could never stop the egg eaters either. So i did a couple of things. First I tried the golf ball in the nest thing, when that didn't work I sat and watched my girls and figured out who was doing it. Then I put an egg on the floor and watched to see which ones started pecking at it and trying to get it. After I found out who it was (five different hens) I penned them up together. They are all going to be soup or bbq soon if they don't cut it out, but I'm now getting more eggs.

I've also started gathering eggs three times a day. I've found that helps because they aren't just sitting there with a big sign saying eat me! LOL

 

[Sherris Backyard Beauties]

yesterday, I caught my Polish Roo sitting in the nestbox like he was trying to lay an egg. I had already collected them. Today though I didn't make it out till after 3 pm, so maybe thats why he was in there. He left the box so clean though, there was only egg yolk and a couple pieces of shell stuck on the single egg sitting there. Thats what had puzzled me. So I threw away the yolky egg because I was afraid it could have been a possom or something. Then I had this thought, yesterday I found this in my backyard! But they usually eat bugs, veggies and fruit. Plus I don't think he can fit through the little hole to the chicken coop. He was about 3 1/2 feet long.

 

[Corey NC]

When I had an egg eater she would eat the whole egg and there would just be a wet spot in the nest. Though when i had a skunk visiting every night he would just eat the inside of the egg and leave the shell.

 

[SunsetChickens]

Sherri, WHAT IS THAT?? That was in your backyard?

 

[Wildsky]

 

[mudhen]

I'm surprised your hens were laying eggs at all with that near them!!!

I think your roo was hiding from it....

 

[ksacres]

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