Duckfarmerpa1
Herd Master
Hi all, so I’ve got 36 laying hens...they lay between 27-32 eggs a day...darn good, right?! I guess they like it here? Anyways, when we got the original 12, RIR...I had an occasional egg eater...never caught the culprit. I was too cheap to buy ceramic eggs, so I found very oval rocks from our landscaping and put and 5-6 in laying boxes. At that time, they really only used 1-2 nest boxes. Ok, so, then we bought a whole lot of pullets. No issues. We had some in quarantine...2 turned out to be egg eaters, so we ate them, so they didn’t teach the others bad habits...and why keep a chicken who’s not producing? So, fast forward....in the last few weeks I’ve noticed some eggs yolks in the boxes. Chris lets it slide. I bought some fancy Easter eggs that were at goodwill..porcelain? Well, the eating has ramped up. I’m losing about 2-3 a day. I’m pretty positive it’s not soft shell issues..we’ve never had that problem, in fact people comment on how hard the shells are... Plus, sometimes I find shell remnants. I see a random chicken nibble at the egg remains, I think I know her, but she looks just like the other of the original 12. I hate to cull the wrong chickens...at this point I doubt it’s just one? Yesterday there was an egg with a hole one the middle of it. Like they started to eat it and got caught. I figured it was a great time to fill it with mustard. Well, those darned girls must like mustard?? The egg was torn apart..I have pictures..and the mustard is smashed around. Plus, I lost two more eggs and the day isn’t done. I know some say there is nothing you can do....I know some say to sit and watch for the one who does it. I’d rather not have to sit and watch...and I don’t hav3 a game camera and Chris will definitely say no to that!! So, any ideas?