Eggs in August

This year the egg production of our hens have held up nicely even during the hot summer months.  I attribute that to supplementing the rice we feed them with a bit of laying pellets to boost the protein levels.  The hens have responded and the normal fall-off of egg production in the summer didn't happen to such a large extent as in previous years.

One of Benjamin's daily chores is to gather eggs and to close up the laying boxes at night so that the hens don't roost in the laying boxes and poop on all the hay.  Initially, this worked wonders in keeping the eggs clean.  No more time was spent cleaning chicken poop off of the eggs.  It made Benjamin's job easier and he was happy.  Until here recently.

Benjamin has been returning from egg gathering in a foul mood.  Sorry.  It seems that we have a chicken that is breaking eggs and eating them.  The resulting yolk gets all over the other eggs, making egg cleaning a tedious and arduous task.  Why would a chicken resort to such cannibalistic behavior?

If chickens begin eating eggs, it can be difficult to break them of the habit.  Then they teach other chickens that the eggs are food.  Not good!  One reason chickens eat their eggs is a lack of protein in their diet.  We've solved that issue, so it can't be that.  Another is a calcium deficiency in their diet.  We have crushed oyster shells in a big bowl where they can eat it at will.  It's not that either.  Yet another reason is overcrowding.  It is a little crowded at night in the hen house, but that's when they roost - not when they lay their eggs.  Probably not that either.

We have had a few hens get broody lately and that is Tricia's theory.  She hypothesizes that the broody hens are laying eggs and then not getting off the laying box to let other hens lay.  This gives other hens not a lot of room to lay eggs.  Fighting ensues and eggs get broken and eaten.  The only way we've found to minimize this is to gather the eggs around late-morning and then again in the afternoon.  This doesn't solve the issue, but at least the clean eggs are picked up prior to having them broken and covered in egg white and yolk.

We'll see if the egg eating stops.  I certainly hope so.  Meanwhile, we picked up a small egg yesterday.

Here is a normal sized egg for comparison. 

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Normally, we collect a few small eggs when pullets first begin to lay.  All of our chickens have been laying for well in excess of a year, so we don't know why a small egg was laid. 

We love our chickens and enjoy eating those delicious country eggs.  Unfortunately, one of our hens has decided she likes the taste of the eggs, too.  Hopefully, she will break that habit and leave plenty for us.