Wow - after the coldest week here this winter, I got an egg!

[ccoomber]

I have 4 bantam hens, a Maran, a Welsummer, an Araucana and a Ancona who are about 31 weeks old. And this week here in the south of the Uk, we've had the worst snow i can remember in my 30 years! We measured the snow on my car and it reached a foot of snow! Anyhow, my girls never came into lay before day length began to shorten, so i assumed i would have to wait till spring for any eggs. Anyway went out to clean my girls this morning and found an egg. Its's an impressive 34g(1.2 oz) bless it! and its faintly tinted pink, so i'm guessing its my Ancona who i think are white egg layers. I just could believe it, i mean its nearly the shortest day of the year!

What worries me is that whilst cleaning the out i found some egg fragments in the shavings, i now i'm very worried i have an egg eater! Hopefully this is a one off whilst i was not checking them as often as i would normally during the snow. I don't think there could have been more than 1 egg eaten. How likely is this going to turn into a problem? How can i nip this in the bud now? I've put 4 fake eggs in the nest tonight as i hope the egg eater will have a futile go, and not manage. Anything else i should try??

 

[WhoopiePie]

for your diligent egg-layer!

i've read some people blow out an egg and fill it with mustard

that would stop me.... unless there were pretzels in the coop too....

 

[swimmer]

Our first egg we got in a snowstorm too. I did the egg dance in the snow. Was so excited. A few of them have been laying for a few weeks now. I also have an egg eater and found out which one yesterday. It's something you want to try and fix right away. A few things I've done to hopefully "fix" this is...filled and egg with mustard. Just blow out an egg and fill with mustard. I put it out there this morning and it wasn't touched. ??? I also read to give the girls a bowl of milk or some yougurt. For extra protien. Have been doing that for a few days. I also covered entrance to my nest boxes with a towel so it's extra dark for them. Hopefully so the egg eater doesn't return and see the egg. Not too sure if that's going to work, but worth a try. If you can, check you boxes often. Not sure if any of these will help or work, but those are a few things I was told to try. Good luck.