Whats eating my eggs?

[Trevor Williams]

I'm thinking rats or the chickens themselves? Thoughts? See attached image.

Roost is secure, seems to be happening at night.

 

[chickenmama109]

it could be your chickens

 

[Zoomie]

Could be either one. Do you keep fake or dummy eggs in your nests? I have some of the ceramic ones, with a big X on them in marker so I con't collect them by accident, and the chickens try and peck those and don't get anywhere so they give up and don't eat the eggs. I've cured several batches of chickens from this annoying habit just by keeping fake eggs in the nest.

If it's rats, set traps and see if you catch any. If it's happening at night, it's more likely to be rats than chickens, actually. You could take the traps out at night when the chickens are all on the roost, set out the traps, and then get out there very first thing in the AM before first light and collect the traps. They do make traps that the rats walk in to and get fried by electricity, it's called a Rat Zapper and runs on batteries. I don't think a chicken could get in there, but if you pull it up before they are active it would be safer.

 

[Naser]

Could be either one. Do you keep fake or dummy eggs in your nests? I have some of the ceramic ones, with a big X on them in marker so I con't collect them by accident, and the chickens try and peck those and don't get anywhere so they give up and don't eat the eggs. I've cured several batches of chickens from this annoying habit just by keeping fake eggs in the nest.

If it's rats, set traps and see if you catch any. If it's happening at night, it's more likely to be rats than chickens, actually. You could take the traps out at night when the chickens are all on the roost, set out the traps, and then get out there very first thing in the AM before first light and collect the traps. They do make traps that the rats walk in to and get fried by electricity, it's called a Rat Zapper and runs on batteries. I don't think a chicken could get in there, but if you pull it up before they are active it would be safer.

If you want to set traps that close to the hens, put the traps in a plastic container with a small hole that rats will get through it and hens wouldn't

 

[Chickassan]

Don't leave eggs ungatherd overnight unless you've got a broody hen. Leaving eggs just rings the dinner bell for nocturnal pests. No coop on earth is secure from rats, and if it is happening at night it isn't your chickens they can't see to eat anything at night.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Any chicken keeper who habitually has egg eating chickens is missing something in his flock husbandry. There seems to be quite a bit of egg remaining in the photo so this is untypical because chickens generally clean up all of a broken egg.