Broken egg eaten?

[csummer8882]

I have 6 chickens...only 1 is laying right now. She just started laying maybe 10 days to 2 weeks ago. I haven't seen an egg in 2 days. Check everyday and we have seen nothing. Let the girls out today and they are playing keep away with something. I get it and its a piece of an egg shell. I check the nesting box and its a mess, loaded with the clear/white part of the egg. All of the shell had been eaten minus the part I took from the girls. Any ideas? Thanks!

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

It probably broke when she laid it, do your boxes have a nice layer of bedding? When I find broken (eaten) eggs, that usually means I need to add some more shavings to my nesting boxes. Since she's a new layer, she may have taken off the day before and laid a partially soft egg (another reason I could have broken). Don't panick yet, just because you saw them eating an egg doesn't necessarily mean they've turned into egg eating monsters. I feed all of my dirty eggs back to the chickens (just as I find them) and have never had a problem with egg eating. Good luck!

 

[csummer8882]

OK Thank you!

I hope its not an indication of future issues!