Egg eater???

[Glenmar]

I have 6 hens and 1 rooster in one of my coops. They started laying in Jan. I was getting 3-4 eggs starting in Jan, so I was happy with production and assumed it would pick up in spring.
Now I am getting 1 egg a day and its usually on the coop floor. Do I have an egg eater??
Occasionally I will see a broken egg. They are 100% preditor proof

 

[Judy]

There are other possibilities, like a "mini molt" that's not readily evident, cool weather, a stressor such as a predator coming around at night, just offhand. They will certainly eat an egg that is broken accidentally, which isn't true egg eating, in the sense of intentionally pecking eggs to eat them. One or two could be working on going broody. I've had a rat snake come through 1/4" hardware cloth and eat a new chick -- at least that's how I figure he came in, because he got stuck trying to get back out, due to the bulge of the chick. Maybe they are avoiding the nest for some reason, and the eggs are getting broken accidentally. At least I hope it is due to some other (temporary) explanation!

 

[Glenmar]

It has been cool around here. I am going with mini molt. We'll see what happens.
Thanks