one of my hens laid an egg in the nest box and has been in and out of it with her mate for since.... this morning my husband saw one of the other hens coming out of the nesting box and he looked in the box and the hen ATE MY OTHER HEN'S EGG!!! I have decided to remove the mating pair from the rest and they are now safe from further harm, but I have two questions... one, will this hen be a problem when it comes to laying her own eggs, will she eat them too or was this a territory thing??? the other question is, I checked on the hen and her mate that had their egg eaten today and she has laid another egg already???? :hap: she just laid the one that got eaten yesterday, how is it she laid another so soon , they usually lay one every other day??? some info would be appreciated. Thanks

that is the problem with colony breeding.

 

That hen wanted the nest box so removed (ate) the eggs.

It would be a great idea to get your breeding pair into their own cage to stop it happening again.

 

I am not sure if that hen will always be an egg eater (it happens) but i think she was probably after the nest box rather than the eggs in this case.

that is the problem with colony breeding.

 

That hen wanted the nest box so removed (ate) the eggs.

It would be a great idea to get your breeding pair into their own cage to stop it happening again.

 

I am not sure if that hen will always be an egg eater (it happens) but i think she was probably after the nest box rather than the eggs in this case.

 

I have already put the breading pair in their own cage and the hen has already laid a new egg. So they are safe now. My husband cleaned out the eaten egg and cleaned the nest box. The thing is that the hen that eat the egg is not even paired with a male (she has no bonded mate), but I guess that doesn't matter if she wants that box??? I don't think I will continue with the colony breeding. I have had to seperate too many out at this point anyway. I already have the two breeding pairs taken out (so that's 4) and 3 of my other birds are too young to breed and have been seperated out so that 7 of my 10.... colony breeding is just not working for me as I hoped it would. If Any of my remaining keets bond and pair off I will seperate them also so I'll just have to see how it goes from here I guess.

that is the problem with colony breeding.

 

That hen wanted the nest box so removed (ate) the eggs.

It would be a great idea to get your breeding pair into their own cage to stop it happening again.

 

I am not sure if that hen will always be an egg eater (it happens) but i think she was probably after the nest box rather than the eggs in this case.

Liv is right on all points.

I am not sure if that hen will always be an egg eater (it happens) but i think she was probably after the nest box rather than the eggs in this case.

 

Well you're very generous Liv. I have no time for egg eaters - they don't get a second chance with me and go straight into my Retirement Village!

Missylu, Has this problem with a Cabinet breeding pair

She fosters those Eggs and replaces them with Marbles

In this case where it was about a nest...its not really an egg eating hen. She has gone in there to take over the nestbox. She has broken eggs trying to throw them out and when eggs are broken birds will sample the eggs. I truly do NOT think, in this case, it means an egg eater for eternity.

the other question is, I checked on the hen and her mate that had their egg eaten today and she has laid another egg already???? she just laid the one that got eaten yesterday, how is it she laid another so soon , they usually lay one every other day??? some info would be appreciated. Thanks

Can anyone respond on this part of my question??? How did she "relay" so soon...?

In this case where it was about a nest...its not really an egg eating hen. She has gone in there to take over the nestbox. She has broken eggs trying to throw them out and when eggs are broken birds will sample the eggs. I truly do NOT think, in this case, it means an egg eater for eternity.

I think I agree with KAZ on this... because I went against the suggestions of cage breeding and allowed colony breeding I took a chance for the hens to "fight" for nesting boxes of their choice... although I have 6 nesting boxes to choice from in the aviary, this one box seems to be the choice of all my hens when "exploring" the boxes. Until the hen that ate the egg lays one of her own I won't know if she will eat them.

Can anyone respond on this part of my question??? How did she "relay" so soon...?

 

A few hens dont just lay every other day but sometimes have an extra egg occasionally , but maybe the stress of losing her eggs the way it happened and her need to replace the egg made her lay the next one quicker.