somebody's eating eggs, but who?

[chickbliss7]

Good ideas, Rufus. I would worry if a tom cat was in the coop. It is well-secured from predators since we have everything from mountain lions to field mice. I think the main culprit is the Ameracauna, who is probably eating her own egg. When that happens, it's always on the coop floor. Either she lays it there or kicks it out. Then the others join in.

It's possible that they need something I'm not providing in their diet since they can't free range. I give them a heap of greens twice a day, oyster shell, meal worms and cheese for protein, a gruel with their crumble mixed with yogurt, a crushed probiotic capsule and organic milk. I also give them fruit and vegetables along with their regular feed. Have I left anything out? I worry that because they can't get out in the yard, there's something I'm missing. I used to give them chopped up hard boiled eggs, but then thought that might be too close to what I don't want them to do. No parasites that I can find. I look through the feathers of my tamest girl, figuring she'd have them if the others did.

P.S. This egg eating doesn't happen every day, fortunately.

 

[unaspenser]

I had this problem and posted about it a few weeks ago... not sure if it was habit or poor nutrition that got my girls doing it, but I know it can be either, or some other source of stress.... my first step was to really ramp up their nutrition with extra greens, kitchen scraps, and lots of feed on demand. I never did try to blow an egg out and fill it with mustard, but what I did instead was to go into the run and let them watch me crack an egg on the ground. Then I covered the egg and shell with mustard and let them go for it. They all took one taste and wouldn't touch it after that. It took a few days for the improved nutrition to kick in, but I haven't had an egg eaten since.

A roll-away nest box would be really nice, but mustard seemed to work for me!