Losing 2/5 eggs a day!!

[MrsMeg]

We have 7 chickens and get on average 4-5 eggs a day! We've been battling an egg eater but have no way of catching them in action and knowing who it is specifically. We've tried golf balls in the nest, mustard filled eggs, having constant food and clean water and oyster shells. I've even been able to go check for eggs 4 times in 1 day and STILL MISS getting the egg pecker. They don't even eat tiniest peck and ruin. Nothing is working and it sure is infuriating to have your beautiful
Eggs ruined.

Only thing I can think of is rollout nest boxes!! Has anyone modified their existing hen house with built in nest boxes to be rollout?

We have a stand alone cute teal 3.5x5 ft hen house that can be picked up and moved around and it has two boxes built in with a latch door.

 

[mortie]

Are you finding the remains of the eggs? With 7 chickens 4-5 eggs kinda sounds about right depending on what breed they are.

 

[aart]

We have 7 chickens and get on average 4-5 eggs a day! We've been battling an egg eater but have no way of catching them in action and knowing who it is specifically. We've tried golf balls in the nest, mustard filled eggs, having constant food and clean water and oyster shells. I've even been able to go check for eggs 4 times in 1 day and STILL MISS getting the egg pecker. They don't even eat tiniest peck and ruin. Nothing is working and it sure is infuriating to have your beautiful
Eggs ruined.

Only thing I can think of is rollout nest boxes!! Has anyone modified their existing hen house with built in nest boxes to be rollout?

We have a stand alone cute teal 3.5x5 ft hen house that can be picked up and moved around and it has two boxes built in with a latch door.

Agrees with mortie.......also how old are they hens?
Are the eggs thin shelled?
If the shell is pecked but the membrane is intact you can still eat the egg.

Do they have a run or are they free ranged?

A 4'x5' coop is kind of small for 7 hens....crowding could be an issue as it causes stress and stress can cause disruption in laying.

 

[MrsMeg]

Hi! This coop I have is just what they sleep in at night and what their nesting boxes are in.

They roam around in a 50ft x 50ft pen from about 730am-8pm everyday. I know 4-5 is normal from 7 hens but at least 2 of the 4 or 5 eggs daily are pecked into through the membrane with a huge gaping hole but not actually eaten or pecked into small pieces.

I'm not exactly sure how old they are we recently biught them from someone who has thousands of free range chickens i doubt he would even know...

I dont think they shells are very thin because I know weve even had a tough time cracking them when cooking! What do I give them specifically to make the shell thicker?

Thank you!

 

[MrsMeg]

Are you finding the remains of the eggs? With 7 chickens 4-5 eggs kinda sounds about right depending on what breed they are.

Yes its just whole eggs laying box with a huge gaping runny hole. Yes, 4-5 is a great number, but 2 of them are ruined every day because of the egg pecker

 

[Bostonbea]

Never had this issue before and hope i never do. How many nesting boxes do you have and are the eggs that are broken in one or multiple? I've heard of eggs breaking sometimes when they are trampled by the next hen to lay, but if you say the shell is tough that doesn't make sense.

 

[aart]

If a chicken pierces an egg shell it usually eats the whole thing shell and all.

Can any wild birds get into your coop?

If the shells are already hard enough, making them harder is not probably gonna help...and it's hard(haha-sorry) to do, if not impossible

Sorry, I have no ideas...other than rollaway nests or culling if you can find the culprit.