Do I Have An Egg Eater?

[eggcatcher]

I have two white leghorn hens about 3yo. So I would expect them to lay less than before. I usually get 2 eggs one day 1 the next. Sometimes I have what looks like egg white and or a rubber egg on the poop board which I assume is an egg that came out at night instead of poop, yes they have plenty of oyster shell. Rarely maybe once a month I have a wet nest, not really sticky like egg white but maybe it is in the nesting material but it's not gooy, when this happens there is absolutely NO sign of any shell or yolk. So I'm not sure it's an egg eater and frequently I have two eggs so both of them have to be laying frequently. I have watched the hens and sometimes the one who comes out clucking that she layed an egg is one or the other and the egg is intact so no one is habitually immediately eating any egg available. I'm puzzled by the wet nests. If I have an egg eater I need to know because I have 5 new chicks about 1 mo. old and I don't want them to learn bad habits IF THEY EXIST from one of the big chickens, DO THEY LEARN BAD HABITS FROM OTHERS? Well if anyone can give me a way to determine for sure if I have an egg eater I'd appreciate it. Maybe I'm just an overly concerned inexperienced Momma.

 

[chi-rn]

It sounds like you're getting quite a few eggs from just two 3-year old hens. Do you check for eggs more than once a day-- more frequent checking can help ease your mind about egg-eating. It would be a bit unusual for your girls to be laying eggs at night, so it could be that your chickens are just making big poop plops. That happens to me whenever I feed my girls juicy melons-- I make these a morning treat for this reason! Also, go out at night, open your coop & see if one or both of the girls are sleeping in the nests rather than roosting OR maybe roosting right over the nests if this is possible-- this could easily explain the wet nests in the morning. I'd rule these things out as the answer (wet treats late in day, sleeping on/over roosts) before I'd assume egg-eating. It certainly doesn't sound like egg-eating with only once-a-month wet nest. But yes, if one hen is a egg-eater, curiosity & love of anything food-like will lead to others exploring the goodness of a wonderful egg breakfast! Good luck!