Egg Eater???

[MindySchoeb]

I have 4 chickens that were hatched on Memorial day. This is my first time as a chicken mommy, and I love my girls (not sure what kind they are exactly..I have my guesses, but that's another post. I believe I have one or two layers. Either that or one hen is laying vastly different sized eggs. The problems are that the eggs are sporatic, the layer(s) REFUSES to lay in the same place twice, much less in a laying box (dispite efforts) and now someone is eating the eggs before I can get to them. Can someone tell me how to stop my delinquent mothers??

 

[ThreeBoysChicks]

If they are not laying in a nest box, it will be more difficult.
For me, I keep a couple of golf balls in each nest box and this way if a hen decides to peck the golf ball, it hurts and they stop.
You may not want to hear this option, but i actually culled a Hen that I knew was a regular offender. Dried yolk on her neck gave her away more than once.

Edited to add - Are you sure they are not hiding them to hatch later? I had a hen that was excellent at hiding her eggs and suprised me more than once with chicks.

 

[MindySchoeb]

Thanks for the tips. I'm going to the golf balls first. She's not hiding them, I find them broken open, and once saw her with a very guilty look on her face right next to the broken egg! (ok, it was more than a guilty look, she was pecking it

She tends to lay in 2 specific spots on the coop floor and whenever I put bedding there she makes a little next out of it. I'll try to stick a golf ball in each spot and see how she does. Thanks for the tips.