I have an eggeater and she ate one of my broody's eggs. Advice?

[TinyLittleFarm]

I have long suspected I had an egg eater. I will frequently find eggs with dried yolk on them, but have never caught the culprit. Usually only one a day goes missing, so I wasn't too worried about it.

Last night I gave Carrot the Broody Brahma 9 fertile eggs to replace the infertile ones she's been determined to hatch. I numbered them 1-9. Today mid day I checked under her and all 9 were still there, though another hen had squished in the nest box with her and was laying. I just went out to collect any just-laid eggs from her box, counted the fertile eggs,and #7 is missing and there is dried yolk on the others.

I don't know who is eating eggs and I don't really relish the thought of spending a day in the chicken coop to find out. Is there an easier way to determine who the culprit is? If I do figure out who the egg eater is, is there any way to "cure" her? Or is it off to freezer camp?

As for the broody and her eggs, do you think I should move her to my brooder box? Would it be dangerous to the eggs to move them? Will the dried yolk on the fertile eggs impede their development and/or hatching?

Thanks!

 

[Habibs Hens]

get blown eggs put food dye in it an d seal it

the egg eater will have a coloured beak

 

[TinyLittleFarm]

Blown eggs? Like blow out the yolks and whites? How do you seal them?

Great idea! I just am a little slow on the uptake.

 

[Habibs Hens]

Yes poke a hole and blow out insides. Full with colour liquid and seal with tape or something similar


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[TinyLittleFarm]

sigh....

This morning I put green food coloring in a few eggs and stuck them out there. They had already eaten two eggs (but not my broody's eggs). A bunch of them had shell on their beaks, so I couldn't tell who started it. Also, maybe my flock is just a bunch of diabolical egg eaters.

Went back out this afternoon. The "green" eggs were untouched, but another of the broody's eggs was missing.

I love my girls but I'm about ready to eat the lot of them.

Carrot the broody was taking a potty/food/water break so I got out a small dog kennel and filled it with shavings and placed it in the coop, relocated her eggs, and put Carrot in there with her eggs with food and water. She is not happy.

Quite a bit of disgruntled chicken noises. She did seem to settle in, but geez, I just don't know how this is going to go. I guess the little ones have a better shot if they are not trying to be murdered, though!

 

[Ellochicken]

Ok, I have a book, so no need to eat any chickens before you have to! Here are a couple tips that i hope can help you out!

#1: Causes of Egg-Eating

Some egg-eating crimes are caused by overcrowding, boredom, and irregular collection of eggs.*Not collecting eggs at a certain time every day*
Try to collect the eggs as early as possible, say while you are eating breakfast let your birds out and collect the eggs.

#2: How to Stop It

First, identify the reason. If they are overcrowded, enlarge the run. If they are bored, give them something to do. Chickens love it when you string up an entire cabbage head for them to peck at! They also like rolling little blue balls around *They really like that color for some reason* and they like seed blocks too.
Try to allow them free range time regularly, then look at the nesting boxes and take whatever action is necessary to make them secure from the casual attention of the other Hens and/or Roosters.
Other actions you can take are:
Decoys
Try placing china eggs in Carrot's nest so that when they are pecked at, nothing comes out.
An Old Cure
(This is pretty effective)
Blow out an egg and fill it with mustard, chickens hate that, and it doesn't harm them.
Confiscation
If you've tried absolutely EVERYTHING but you still couldn't break the habit, then you will probably have to turn to freestanding nesting boxes with a 'roll away tray' so that when they lay, the egg rolls down and is covered in plastic, but more important, it's out of the hen's reach.

I REALLY hope that this helps you! My birds aren't laying yet, but they're getting pretty close.
Don't eat them unless even the roll away tray doesnt work!
Sincerely,

-Ellochicken