Something is eating my chickens eggs.

[Kalopcompton295024]

This month I've been noticing my chickens are having a lack of egg production. The month before I was getting anywhere from 6-12 eggs a day and now I'm lucky to get 3. That being said I go out there and i have a bunch of empty shells? This is the first time I've had any problems with something getting in their coop? What could be dragging the eggs out and eating the insides? And what can I do to prevent this from happining in the future?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Hard to say without seeing the setup and knowing more about the situation. You could have a hen or two that has become an egg eater. Snakes eat eggs but don't leave shells. Opossums, raccoons and rats eat eggs but a raccoon may opt to eat the chickens instead of the eggs.

 

[ellenscoop]

There is a poultry predator identification tool which might be of help to you - http://www.poultrydvm.com/predator-identifier.php

 

[sourland]

To @ChickenCanoe's list of possibles I would add crows.

 

[lazy gardener]

Pics of the remains and your coop/run set up would be helpful. Are you leaving feed out at night? If so, that's an attractant to all sorts of night prowlers who will snack on the feed, and then come back to get the eggs, or even the chickens.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Besides crows I doubt that there is a single member of the crow or jay family of birds that would not stoop to eating chicken eggs once they find out what they've been missing.