My very first egg... and they ATE it!

[AmyBella]

I found my first egg, right in the nest box where it belonged (next to the marble egg!), but it was all smashed and eaten!

The shell was pretty thin and fragile.

I leave for work at 7 and don't get home until 6:30. DH can check the nests later in the morning, but he is not super-reliable at this kind of thing. I hope that having the eggs sit there for awhile does not encourage the girls to be naughty and eat them!

Well, wish me luck for egg #2!

 

[Gonzo]

Could The egg maybe just have been broken and trampled? with a weaker shell it may be possible that that's what happened, and not actually eaten, or eaten because the egg broke. I'd try to harden the shells up. For the thin egg shells, I'd give them cottage cheese, or yogurt (anything high in calcium) for treats. If the problem continues, you may want to rigg up a roll out nesting box so they can't get to them. Also, check for eggs before you go to work. some of our girls lay early in the a.m. I hope this helps! Good Luck!

 

[gottalovemychickens]

ya mine lay in the morning , but some of them are frozen , how idk , maybe because its starting to get colder then normal

 

[AmyBella]

I have been checking first thing in the morning every day for weeks! I usually let them out and look at 6 and then stop by again on my way to the car at 7:30. They get yogurt treats a couple times a week and I just put out oyster shell for them. I suppose the egg could have been trampled... we'll see. The tilted nest box is a great suggestion. Hopefully I won't need to build one!

 

[fordmommy]

Bad, chicken. Bad.

Good luck for #2!

 

[lisahaschickens]

often first eggs are weird... soft-shelled, lumpy, etc. The girls just need a little practice to get it right. I bet you it just got stepped on and was too soft not to break. I had a couple like that when my girls first started and I worried that they were eating them, but they weren't. I have no problems now at all. I discovered my rooster was stepping on their eggs because he liked to sit in the nesting boxes. No one was eating them. Lots of people don't even collect eggs everyday. It won't encourage egg-eating. They do that if they have a dietary deficiency (like lack of calcium) or if they take a taste of an accidentally broken one and decide they like the taste. Make sure to give free-choice oyster shell along with separate grit and a complete feed and I bet everything will be fine. That first egg was just a little glitch. Soon you will have a perfect one and oyu can enjoy eating your first homegrown egg! Collecting once a day in the evening is just fine. My neighbors recently watched my chickens for my while I was away for about 10 days and they checked only once a day sometime after 7pm. They collected eggs and checked food and water and there were no problems at all. I bet yours will be fine too!

 

[AmyBella]

HOORAY! JOY! WHOOPEE!

DH called to let me know that there was a perfect, beautiful, smooth, and most importantly INTACT egg laid around 9 am. I can't wait to get home and see it!

 

[starforever61]

Get an egg and empty it through a tiny hole and fill it with dish soap and seal it with wax. Give it to the chicken you think ate it. There should never be an egg eating problem again, lol

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