Scary egg-eater has called my bluff

[Masonjars]

Hi all,

One of my RIRs is an inveterate egg eater, and I’m starting to lose a lot of eggs to her, so on Sunday I tried the dish-soap-in-an-eggshell trick.

The eggshell is GONE, there is no sign of it or the soap anywhere in the coop, I can’t smell dish soap anywhere, and all of the chickens look fine. Did she actually eat the eggshell and soap?! How is she not having the world’s worst diarrhea now? I’m baffled…

 

[nuthatched]

Maybe you have something else also eating eggs

 

[FrostRanger]

How much room do they have, what protein percentage is their feed and do they have access to oyster shells?

 

[Masonjars]

Maybe you have something else also eating eggs

No, I’ve seen her at it more than once, it’s definitely one primary offender unfortunately. I’d much rather it be another beasty!

How much room do they have, what protein percentage is their feed and do they have access to oyster shells?

Their coop is a bit crowded but they have tons of room in their run. They’re on 16% layer feed, plus BSFL a couple of times a week, and I put calcium supplement directly into their water.

 

[Crazy Maizie]

Offer oyster shell on the side. If she's needing calcium that badly that she will eat an egg with soap in it, maybe she needs more calcium options. Or more protein?

 

[FrostRanger]

I would switch to a 20% feed and cut out the bsfl for a while. She might be eating eggs 'cause she's not getting enough protein. Generally it's better to have calcium on the side so birds who need them can have it while birds that don't won't be have too much

 

[Crazy Maizie]

or just be on the look out for something like this - maybe coming out the other end?

 

[Masonjars]

I’ll see if I can get a higher percentage feed, I don’t have a lot of options where I am. I haven’t had good experiences with oyster shell, they generally totally ignore it after one day and it gets wasted, that’s why I switched to the liquid. The hen has an attitude in general, is it possible she’s eating the eggs of other hens as an alpha move or to eliminate perceived competition? I have no roos but I’m not up on hen psychology…

 

[FrostRanger]

It's extremely unlikely it's a dominance issue, chances are it's a nutrition issue. If they're knocking the container over, I'd try a small hanging feeder with the oyster shell. It's normal for them to only occasionally eat the oyster shells, they'll only take what they need when they need it. It never goes bad so it's not a big deal if it sits around for a long time

 

[Crazy Maizie]

I’ll see if I can get a higher percentage feed, I don’t have a lot of options where I am. I haven’t had good experiences with oyster shell, they generally totally ignore it after one day and it gets wasted, that’s why I switched to the liquid. The hen has an attitude in general, is it possible she’s eating the eggs of other hens as an alpha move or to eliminate perceived competition? I have no roos but I’m not up on hen psychology…

You can try an all flock feed. It generally has higher protein, but less calcium, so the oyster shell on the side is a must. The thing about oyster shell is they seek it out when they need it. Sometimes mine is gone in a flash and other times, they are barely touching it. It doesn't cost anything for it to sit in a dish. The calcium should always be offered as a supplement not mixed into feed or water - unless you are treating a single hen for egg laying issues then you try different remedies.

As far as eliminating competition, I doubt it. We are always trying to give human qualities to animals. It's more likely that since the whole egg is gone she's lacking nutrients.
Have you caught her eating the egg? Not just eating a broken egg (all chickens will eat a broken egg given the chance), but literally breaking it on purpose and eating it?

The other thing to look at is the treats you're offering. Are you offering too much that it's diluting the nutritional value of the feed?