I was sent this photo evidence of one of my hens eating an egg.
This is Basalisk, a 2yr old Olive Egger. The eye witness reported that they saw he carrying something white, then throw it on the driveway and start eating.
Egg eating isn’t great, but I think it’s important to know where she got the egg from before making a decision to her fate. A dropped egg on the ground is fair game. An egg from the coop means something else, and is behavior I think I’d need to cull before other birds begin adopting it.
For her to get from the coop, she would need to steal an egg from under my broody hen, take it from that enclosure, make it through the yard, then hop over the fence, all without another hen taking the ‘treat’ back from her.
Another thing is the color. We don’t have any white egg layers. The closest would be cream or light blue.
I think it’s possible my light blue layer Kida has been keeping a secret nest elsewhere or she also has been known to drop eggs in strange places before. I think it’s more likely the case that Basalisk didn’t take from the coop, but somewhere on the ground where Kida left it.
(Adding to this likelihood, Kida is known to wander the whole yard and hop the fence herself.)
A third possibility;
It’s not a chicken egg but an egg of a wild bird who had made its nest somewhere on the property. Think this works best for carrying purposes, as chicken eggs can be quite large where as a ground dwelling song bird may be much smaller.
-The yolk looks really large though.
Plan of action for right now;
Monitor.
Track how many eggs we are getting from the coop each day, watch Basilisk for further signs of thievery.
Provide more oyster shell.
Supplement calcium as deficiency can definitely contribute to starting this behavior.
I often give my hens the egg shells back when I cook, I will withhold them for the time being.
Plan to cull if necessary.
I can’t keep a hen who eats eggs from our coop. I can’t have that behavior being adopted by my other hens or the young chickens.
Is there anything else you would recommend? Thoughts or your own experiences with similar issues?
This is Basalisk, a 2yr old Olive Egger. The eye witness reported that they saw he carrying something white, then throw it on the driveway and start eating.
Egg eating isn’t great, but I think it’s important to know where she got the egg from before making a decision to her fate. A dropped egg on the ground is fair game. An egg from the coop means something else, and is behavior I think I’d need to cull before other birds begin adopting it.
For her to get from the coop, she would need to steal an egg from under my broody hen, take it from that enclosure, make it through the yard, then hop over the fence, all without another hen taking the ‘treat’ back from her.
Another thing is the color. We don’t have any white egg layers. The closest would be cream or light blue.
I think it’s possible my light blue layer Kida has been keeping a secret nest elsewhere or she also has been known to drop eggs in strange places before. I think it’s more likely the case that Basalisk didn’t take from the coop, but somewhere on the ground where Kida left it.
(Adding to this likelihood, Kida is known to wander the whole yard and hop the fence herself.)
A third possibility;
It’s not a chicken egg but an egg of a wild bird who had made its nest somewhere on the property. Think this works best for carrying purposes, as chicken eggs can be quite large where as a ground dwelling song bird may be much smaller.
-The yolk looks really large though.
Plan of action for right now;
Monitor.
Track how many eggs we are getting from the coop each day, watch Basilisk for further signs of thievery.
Provide more oyster shell.
Supplement calcium as deficiency can definitely contribute to starting this behavior.
I often give my hens the egg shells back when I cook, I will withhold them for the time being.
Plan to cull if necessary.
I can’t keep a hen who eats eggs from our coop. I can’t have that behavior being adopted by my other hens or the young chickens.
Is there anything else you would recommend? Thoughts or your own experiences with similar issues?
