One Hen Laying in the Evening - Flock is Eating the Egg. Please help 🙏

[Brehchickens]

My 1 of 5 hens are laying at 5:30pm - 6:00pm when the sun is going down. My hens began first time laying for about a month now. Everyday around 8am - 2pm I have been collecting 4 eggs consistently. I have only seen 5 eggs twice since they began laying. I excused it as one of them is a late bloomer and will eventually start producing regularly. Yesterday, I went to go check on them at 6pm, they’re usually huddled up ready to sleep, and notice them pecking on something. I went up close and saw the yellow yolks… . Today, I tried waiting for that egg at 5pm then 5:30pm and right at 6pm they were already eating the egg. Both times I do not see any scraps of shells around.

I have been feeding them Kahoots brand layer crumbles and they always have fresh water. I often give them two handfuls have scraps with worms, seeds, and grains when I go collect the eggs. All five chickens consume their layer feed.

I would also like to note, I do not notice any physical signs of the hens being bullied or pecked at. I also have two fake eggs and assumed it worked because 4 of the eggs are always there/not eaten.

TLDR; one hen is laying before bed at different times from her flock and all the hens are eating the egg. Any advice?

 

[nuthatched]

Stop all the treats, they aren't good for them and cause nutrition deficiency.
What's the nutrition label on the feed? They could be lacking protein.
Blow out some eggs, fill with yellow dish soap and leave them in the nest.

 

[Brehchickens]

Stop all the treats, they aren't good for them and cause nutrition deficiency.
What's the nutrition label on the feed? They could be lacking protein.
Blow out some eggs, fill with yellow dish soap and leave them in the nest.

Noted, no more scraps and I’ll try the egg trick. I’ll take a picture of the label for you tomorrow. Thank you for your advice!

 

[nuthatched]

Noted, no more scraps and I’ll try the egg trick. I’ll take a picture of the label for you tomorrow. Thank you for your advice!

And the seeds, grains etc, they can have a little, once or twice a week.

 

[Brehchickens]

Happy Friday! This is a picture of the layer feed.

 

[Brehchickens]

This is the snacks I give them:

 

[South Dakota Guy]

My 1 of 5 hens are laying at 5:30pm - 6:00pm when the sun is going down.

My experience is that it takes our birds about 26 hours between each egg, so our chickens lay about 2 hours later everyday than they did the day before. It is likely different birds laying your 6 o'clock eggs.

 

[Brehchickens]

My experience is that it takes our birds about 26 hours between each egg, so our chickens lay about 2 hours later everyday than they did the day before. It is likely different birds laying your 6 o'clock eggs.

Wow thank you for your insight. I did not think of that! I think it’s time to get a leg band for them

 

[South Dakota Guy]

Wow thank you for your insight. I did not think of that! I think it’s time to get a leg band for them

We ordered some leg bands and put them on our Delaware chickens. They all look alike. I put a security camera in the coop (and one in the run). My wife has the camera set to alert her phone when there is activity in the coop so she can see who lays and when among other things. As a side note, you wouldn't believe the musical chairs that goes on up on the roost at bedtime. They usually end up in the same spots every night but my gosh all the drama!

 

[alinas2010]

Just my 2 cents…since the rest of your eggs aren’t being eaten and they’re relatively new layers, it could be that someone lays a soft egg and then it breaks when she is checking it. Then it just gets consumed from there. That happens in our flock when someone lays a soft egg. It makes sense in this situation, too, because you aren’t seeing many remnants of the egg, and sometimes newer layers do have glitches where softer eggs are laid. Agree that stopping treats and snacks is the best course. It will help if soft eggs are being laid, too.