New layer/egg eater

[Svyetii]

Hey all,

Second question of the week:

I just noticed three eggshells on the bedding in our coop. Our Maran just started laying about a week ago, and while most of her egg shells are strong, there were two that were thin shelled and cracked. I suspect someone got a taste of the cracked egg and has since been eating the newly laid eggs. We’ve been still getting some egggs from her, but there have been 2-3 days between, which I was a bit surprised by. Now I understand why. I intend to clean out the nesting boxes and replace with good fluffy nesting material to help avoid potential future breaks, and remove any evidence of previously eaten or cracked eggs. I also have a few fake eggs that I’ll place in the boxes. The hens are on a high protein layer feed. They sometimes get treats, but not every day. I also give them toasted crushed eggshells. They free range most of the day and are cooped up at night. I’ve attached a few photos of her eggs when not eaten (the small brown ones) as well as the evidence of eaten eggs and the inside of our coop. Any suggestions to nip this in the bid before it gets worse are welcome! Thanks!

 

[Mrs. K]

Truthfully - there often times are quite a few glitches until it all gets sorted out. Often times the egg has a thin spot, or a thin shell, or she lays it while on the roost and it drops and breaks. Sometimes they crowd into a single "best" nest and break an egg. Even though there are perfectly fine nests next to them.

I don't think you have a real egg eating problem. If you are worried about it, hang some curtains to make the nests darker, and eggs harder to see.

Mrs K

 

[Svyetii]

Truthfully - there often times are quite a few glitches until it all gets sorted out. Often times the egg has a thin spot, or a thin shell, or she lays it while on the roost and it drops and breaks. Sometimes they crowd into a single "best" nest and break an egg. Even though there are perfectly fine nests next to them.

I don't think you have a real egg eating problem. If you are worried about it, hang some curtains to make the nests darker, and eggs harder to see.

Mrs K

That’s reassuring! I’m still going to take a few precautions, but I hope you’re right. I do think she may have laid the eggs while in the roost a few times, and the other scenarios probably apply to some degree as well (my older hens always use the same nesting box ). Thank you!

 

[aart]

That’s reassuring! I’m still going to take a few precautions, but I hope you’re right. I do think she may have laid the eggs while in the roost a few times, and the other scenarios probably apply to some degree as well (my older hens always use the same nesting box ). Thank you!

Do you not use any bedding in your nests, as the pic shows?

Put a fake egg in each nest to help spread the love.

 

[Svyetii]

Do you not use any bedding in your nests, as the pic shows?

Put a fake egg in each nest to help spread the love.

I do, I had just been using aspen shaving pads and ran out of them. I typically need two to fill the nest box, so there’s only one there now, which is where they lay. I was also experimenting to see if only having one minimized sleeping in there, which the poulets did for a couple weeks. They no longer sleep there now, but they would escape there during the early phases of the flock integration with our older hens.

I saw another egg on the bedding this morning and I’m suspicious that maybe it’s just being laid from the roosting bar, or the edge of the nesting box and cracking…. None of my older hens had any issues with odd eggs or not laying in the correct spot, but I got them in the fall. Maybe it’s more common with spring hatched chicks because it’s so hot when they start to lay? I’m hoping she’ll get herself sorted soon and we won’t have a bigger problem in our hands.

 

[aart]

Maybe it’s more common with spring hatched chicks because it’s so hot when they start to lay?

Yes, onset of lay can cause some chaos....not because of temps but more because of surging hormones and pecking order changes with the older birds.

Coop looks tight both in width and height.
How many birds total and how wide and tall is the coop, in feet??

 

[Svyetii]

Yes, onset of lay can cause some chaos....not because of temps but more because of surging hormones and pecking order changes with the older birds.

Coop looks tight both in width and height.
How many birds total and how wide and tall is the coop, in feet??

Six birds. The coop is 3x6x5. 12 feet of roosting space. Three nesting boxes, which are bigger than they should be honestly, but it was my first time trying to build something like this and I wanted to have storage beneath the boxes, so that’s what I ended up with. There is a 6x12 run and they free range almost all day.

 

[aart]

Six birds. The coop is 3x6x5. 12 feet of roosting space. Three nesting boxes, which are bigger than they should be honestly, but it was my first time trying to build something like this and I wanted to have storage beneath the boxes, so that’s what I ended up with. There is a 6x12 run and they free range almost all day.

Are the branches down low included in your roost length number...or are there 4 roosts above nests?

Might be fine for roosting(I assume they are all roosting in the coop at night) but navigation during laying tomes and just before roosting can cause problems that free ranging won't solve. Could also cause eggs to be laid out in range area.

Just some thoughts.