I have an egg eater!

[Lorettachick]

I recently added 5 new hens to my flock, (RIR, Austraulorp, 2 BR, and 1 white hen that I don't know the breed). One of them lays a white egg, the white hen? Someone is eating the white eggs. I think the white eggs are the only ones they eat. I haven't found any brown shells laying around and this morning the white egg had been laid and pecked open in the nesting box. I work full time and don't have time to watch and see who is the culprit is. I give them oyster shell. Do they think the white egg is oyster shell? I haven't had this problem before. I hung curtains over the nesting boxes and thought that was helping until this morning. Any suggestions?

 

[Judy]

Oyster shell doesn't have anything to do with it. It is also possible they are breaking it because it is more fragile than the others and it gets broken by accident. Your white hen is the one by far the most likely to be laying the white eggs. I say most likely because sometimes they are actually a mixed breed so egg color isn't definitely predictable. All your other breeds should lay brown eggs.

You might try separating the white one long enough to get her egg in the hope of getting it whole to see if it has a particularly fragile shell. A rollaway nest is the best way to get the egg before they do anything to it. Maybe you could rig something up so the egg will roll out of reach when laid.

Here is a source about the various problems you can get with eggs, and an article about egg eaters.

http://www.alltech.com/sites/default/files/alltech-egg-shell-quality-poster.pdf

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/six-tips-on-breaking-your-egg-eateralso