I was gone for a little while today. My main 'flock' has just been integrated, and everything seemed to be working fine, little to no scuffling going on. I have 4 hens, and I can identify all of their eggs. Before I left, one of the girls was in a nest box. She had dug through the shavings until she was down to the bottom, bare wood. I came home about 4 hours later to find a small mess in the other nest box. Again, it looked like the bedding had been scratched away, creating a bare spot on the bottom. There was a mixture of yoke and egg white; not enough to make a whole egg, and one little piece of egg shell. I cannot find anymore egg shell anywhere. The little bit of shell was clean, and in the hay bedding.
While I'd rather not have an egg eater on my hands, I'm more worried right now that the egg might have broken inside my hen. Would this be why I found no shell? Or would they have possibly eaten that along with the egg? I had two unbroken eggs as well, one in with the broken egg, one in the other nest box, and I know which hens laid those eggs. One of my hens is due to skip a day today, so I'm pretty sure I know who layed the broken one. She was dust bathing when I got home, and has a lot of dirt stuck to her feathers on her underside. I'm guessing from sitting on egg inards?
While I'd rather not have an egg eater on my hands, I'm more worried right now that the egg might have broken inside my hen. Would this be why I found no shell? Or would they have possibly eaten that along with the egg? I had two unbroken eggs as well, one in with the broken egg, one in the other nest box, and I know which hens laid those eggs. One of my hens is due to skip a day today, so I'm pretty sure I know who layed the broken one. She was dust bathing when I got home, and has a lot of dirt stuck to her feathers on her underside. I'm guessing from sitting on egg inards?
