Pullet is laying eggs in our run, and then eating them! Help.

[Nodafrce]

Hello! We have 9 young pullets, about 24 weeks old. 8/9 have figured out the nesting boxes and have no issues. We have one PBR that lays outside in their run. I’ve recently noticed that the entire flock will chase the egg and eat it. They don’t bother the eggs in the coop/nesting boxes. I’m not sure how regularly this is happening, as I only really notice if I happen to be outside when she lays the egg. Today was the second occurrence I’ve witnessed.
Any solutions?

 

[rosemarythyme]

Have you been able to grab the remnants of an egg to look at shell quality? If the eggs are thin or breaking as they're laid, that would explain why the rest of the flock is eating them. In most cases eggshell quality will fix itself over time (pullets are more prone to egg quality issues in general until their bodies get used to laying) but if she continues to lay thin eggs, direct supplementing her with calcium citrate tablets should help.

Does she have an especially fluffy rear? Rarely you'll get birds that lay eggs with heavy bloom, and that plus a fluffy bottom can lead to the egg sticking to the hen's butt until it dries enough to fall off. Solution to that would be to trim her butt fluff.

Third thing to consider, have you seen her in the nests at all, exploring and kicking things around or even looking in? Some pullets need to be more directly shown that nests are where eggs go, but unfortunately it's a bit tricky because it requires good timing. You'd need to catch her showing the signs that she was about to lay and then physically put her in a nest box and barricade her in temporarily, or even lock her into it until she's done laying.

 

[Nodafrce]

These are all really good things to look out for. I haven’t had a chance to get a hold of the eggs yet. Usually I notice them going bonkers in the run, and by the time I get out there I see they are already eating the egg. I’ve only actually seen it a handful of times.
Her butt isn’t fluffier than the other pullets, but also a good thing to know.
Hopefully we can catch her the next time we see her getting ready to lay and help her figure out the nesting box. I’m fairly positive I’ve seen her sitting in them, just not when she is actually laying.

Thank you so much for your help!!!