broken eggs/missing eggs

[chickon baby]

Is there anyone that can help me with this situation? We have 3 one year old black wyandottes and 1 golden wyondotte ,very spoiled,healthy and happy.Once they started laying we have had 3-4 eggs everyday.I have noticed this last week, we are only getting 1 or 2 a day,somedays none. I have not able to get to the coop n my hubby n son were taking care of them.(which they have done /do to help out) Yesterday when my hubby brought in 2 eggs I noticed there was what appeared to be dry yolk on them.He look ard n did not see any shells or yolk in the coop,beds etc.Today he brought in a egg n the top was cracked.(appeared to be pecked)This is all new and nothing in theyre routine,diet or behavior has changed.I think they may be eating the eggs.Our coop n "play yard" is more secure than fort knox.Any ideas or suggestions??? Last year I dropped a egg n got it cleaned up before they got near it. They get the mash n grits which are available all the time.In the am I give them cut up apples w/oats and for treats they get safflower seeds and occasioally pieces of wheat bread and of couse h2o is always there n fresh. Thanks for any help you can give

 

[ThreeBoysChicks]

It does sound like you might have an egg eater.


Read through this thread - There was good ideas on how to handle. You will see that I use a golf ball in the nest, let them peck at that. I can imagine it would hurt for sure.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=128788

Opps Edited to add the thread.

 

[nhchickmom]

Yes it sounds as if you have an egg eater. Our chickens will do this from time to time and it seems very random to me. My guess is that this is their way of telling you that they need more calcium in their diet. We feed our chicks crushed oyster shells on a weekly basis to help add calcium to their diets, which helps them produce stronger, thicker egg shells. Egg shells are also high in calcium so sometimes chicks will eat their own eggs to get the minerals they are deficient in.

Lastly and also related to calcium the eggs could simply be so thin that they are getting crushed and then the chickens are eating the cracked egg. I have had this happen before. Adding oyster shells weekly will solve this problem. Hope this helps.

 

[chickon baby]

Wanted to up date you on the missing eggs situation.Thanks for the help,they do get grits,is that the same as oyster shells? Yesterday,I checked on them every 45 minutes and not 1 egg all day.Today I did the same and after the loud laying noise,went out there and had 1 egg.My son went out later and there was 1 egg up on the high shelf and 1 teeny tiny egg in the nest,about the size of the tip of my thumb.They all have been laying good size eggs and the shells have always been hard as can be. I will get some oyster shells and try that.I really would be heart broken if I had to get rid of my babies.

 

[stormylady]

No grit and oystershell is not the same, The oystershell is digestable and will contribute to the egg laying. The grit is indigestable and only goes as far as the gizzard to help chew there food they get no nutritional value out of it. They deff. need the oystershell or somekind of calcium suppliment. At least that was what I have read, my girls aren't even close to that point yet so I can just go on what Ive read. Sandy

 

[cmom]

I agree with the other posts. I give my birds dishes of free choice oyster shells and free choice dishes of grit. My birds have feeders always full of Layer pellets. They do get kitchen scraps, veggies and such from the gardens, scratch, oats, unshelled sunflower seeds.

 

[nhchickmom]

Yes, grit is quite different from the oyster shells. Give the oyster shells a try by throwing in a handful or two a week. The chickens will scratch it out and eat it if they feel the need to. Also don't worry to much about the small egg and odd egg eating behavior. I too am new to chickens in the past year and in the beginning worried about EVERYTHING! Now I realize that chickens lay differently throughout the year and that some hiccups are to be expected. Hope this helps