Eating eggs problem

[WILIFORD]

Don't assume it is one of your flock until you witness it first hand. I had a similar problem, using my trail cam, i identified the culprit and it was not any of my chickens.

 

[Smileybans]

Don't assume it is one of your flock until you witness it first hand. I had a similar problem, using my trail cam, i identified the culprit and it was not any of my chickens.

What was it? I caught my hens doing it. If I leave the egg basket unattended they’ll knock it over but I always suspected the mice might be getting into the coop during the day too.

 

[WILIFORD]

What was it? I caught my hens doing it. If I leave the egg basket unattended they’ll knock it over but I always suspected the mice might be getting into the coop during the day too.

Once it was it was a rodent. The funniest was this i suddenly went from collecting a dozen eggs a day to zero eggs over night. After the second day in a row, I placed the trail cam in the hen house. I watched my female lab wiggle herself through the chicken door. Then watched her eat 11 eggs in 3 minutes. She went from nest box to nest box and ate everyone of them, shell and all. The trail cam is a great tool for chickens

 

[WILIFORD]

Once it was it was a rodent. The funniest was this i suddenly went from collecting a dozen eggs a day to zero eggs over night. After the second day in a row, I placed the trail cam in the hen house. I watched my female lab wiggle herself through the chicken door. Then watched her eat 11 eggs in 3 minutes. She went from nest box to nest box and ate everyone of them, shell and all. The trail cam is a great tool for chickens

PS there was one time I caught one hen pecking eggs and based on experience with my previous flock, you are correct, others picked up the same habit. So she went they way of the crock pot.

 

[raingarden]

I've been wondering....

If an egg was cracked into their feed and mixed into the crumbles (without the shell) would that give them the idea to start breaking and eating eggs? Would they understand that the yummy stuff mixed into their feed is egg?

 

[Smileybans]

I've been wondering....

If an egg was cracked into their feed and mixed into the crumbles (without the shell) would that give them the idea to start breaking and eating eggs? Would they understand that the yummy stuff mixed into their feed is egg?

I don’t think so. I have a hen, separated from my standards that already eat the eggs, that chronically lays a soft egg. She lives in the house with a rooster and another hen. When this hen lays a soft egg her and the rooster will eat the yolk if I don’t catch them. But they won’t go after the hard shelled egg that the other hen lays. I had her lay a soft shelled egg that didn’t break one day and she didn’t try to eat it. Just left it alone. She only goes after it if it’s already broken open.

 

[raingarden]

Thank you very much. They seem to really like raw egg and crumbles. I'm too lazy to walk up to the house and scramble it. I don't think there is a disease to worry about, but maybe you never know that for sure. I need to find a used microwave for the yard.