Wow! mixed emotions!

[chickengal30]

Went and checked on the girls this morning, and oh no, there eating an egg in the run,

I wonder why its in the run as its from my dark cornish who always lays in the nest box. When I checked the nest box, there was my probable answer - my E.E had finally laid her first egg,

its not at all coloured, but is much lighter than anyone elses so it must be hers. So maybe she was spending too long in the nest box laying her first egg that my dark cornish couldnt wait, and laid one in the run, and everyone thought it'd be a cool new treat.
Now they have a taste for it theyll probably do it again wont they?

I guess I know what I'll be reserching today - how to stop egg eaters!

I have four girls and one nest box, I think I'll add another one this weekend to give them another option.
Has anything realy worked for you?

Thanks!

 

[ChickenScratchin]

Don't be too worried yet - eating one egg, in the run, from a new layer, isn't necessarily cause for concern. It may have broken when it was laid or, most likely, it was soft shelled.

I've had 3 eggs eaten - all soft shelled from new layers and no one has bothered normal eggs at all, even when laid in the run/field. Make sure they have calcium and encourage laying in the nest box and you likely won't have any problems.

 

[Aemelia]

Mine ate a soft shelled egg that was laid in the run and haven't eaten any other eggs.

 

[chickengal30]

It wasnt the new egg that was eaten, but your right, it could of cracked/broke whilst being laid in the run. Thanks for your inputs!! I hope this will be a one off thing.

Oh and ChickenScratchin..... I love your chicken blog, hopefully tonight Ill get a chance to read some more!!

 

[ChickenScratchin]

Quote:
I'm sorry, I guess I wasn't paying attention - was thinking it was the new layer, but you clearly said it wasn't.

Apparently too early in the morning for me to be reading.

Anyway, yeah, I still wouldn't worry. I'd put in another box, with fake eggs/golfballs and you probably won't have an issue again.

 

[ChickenScratchin]

Quote:
Thank you! Working on new posts... It's easy to get material cause they're such goofballs - much harder to get PICS of them being goofballs.

 

[Mamma_Duck04]

Yeah, I'd just keep an eye out & add at least another nest box. We've got 7 ladies & 4 nest 'buckets' (would be more but for now in the temp coop that's all the room we have) & there's days they lay in all 4, normally though it's 2-3 nests.

Also, the RIR was first to lay, by a few weeks, but when my RSLs started up (during the hurricane, cooped in the garage no less lol), I had 2 days that the new girls' eggs were cracked, looked suspiciously like someone had pecked them repeatedly till they finally cracked (but not 'open' as if to eat them). But after that it all stopped. Not sure if it was a curiosity thing, they're all so dang nosy!

Anyhoo, I don't have any picking problems NOW except when I gather them. Some reason they'll let them sit in the nests for hours, but once I start gathering, they wiggle up under me & try their hardest to get to the eggs in my hands lol. I think it's just cuz they're so rotten they think anything in my hands are treats.