I think they're stealing their own eggs!?!?!

[schmije]

We've been hardly getting any eggs from our 5 big girls for several months. Our 10 little girls started laying at the end of July, and we expected to be getting about a dozen a day by now. We've been averaging about 4-5 a day with yesterday being our biggest day at 7. Earlier today DH went out to the coop and saw at least 2 eggs in a box that was 'occupied.' He left them alone and went back out a few minutes ago. All of the eggs are GONE! There was a piece of shell on the floor, but no evidence that there were ever eggs in the box that definitely had some a few hours ago.

Does anybody have suggestions for what we can do if somebody is stealing our eggs? Other than sit out there and watch them all the time. It looks like we've figured out why our egg count has been so low. Now we just have to figure out what to do about it. HELP!

 

[rebelcowboysnb]

Put plenty of golf balls in the nest an it will help with the egg eating.

 

[whitecra]

I haven't been getting many eggs all summer. I haven't had an egg in over a month. Last year we were getting over 60 in a months time. I am not sure what is going on here.
Chris

 

[chookchick]

Un Oh, sounds like you have some egg-eaters. First off, make sure that they are on layer feed, and also have oyster shell available at all times. If the eggshells are not good and hard , they are more likely to eat them. You might try upping their protein with meal worms, washed cottage cheese, black oil sunflower seeds, etc..If they don't free-range, keep them busy with scratch, treats, weeds etc.. Try covering the nest box opening with a dark cloth, so they can't see the eggs, and keep golf balls or rocks in the nests at all times to confuse them and discourage pecking. Last resort is a roll-out nest box, well I guess the really last resort is the stew pot, but hopefully you won't have to go that route.

 

[schmije]

We MAY have found the culprit. DH has been keeping an eye on the coops all day, and one of our girls has been hanging out in there a lot. At least 2 eggs disappeared this morning, and when he put a couple into an egg carton on a shelf, they were knocked to the floor. He didn't actually see who did it, but we suspect one in particular. Of course, the suspected chicken is a new layer, so she may just be trying to figure things out. We have a chicken tractor that we used when we only had two chickens, so we're thinking about putting her in it for a few days. If nothing else, maybe we can determine if she's the problem.

They all free range every day, and we have them on layer feed and oyster shell. We had two golf balls in two of the boxes, but they kept knocking them (and most of the bedding) onto the floor, so we took them out. DH is going to increase the size of the 'threshold' on the boxes to see if that keeps things inside better. I'll put the golf balls back in as well. Wish me luck!