holes in egg, but egg not eaten?

[kathyd]

Hi. I suspect one of my birds has just started to do weird things to her own eggs... For the past 2 days she's laid in a different box (I'd kicked them out of the coop to treat for mites the other day so she had to move), and the egg has been rolled out of the box after laying and a hole pecked in it. Bizaarly it hasn't been eaten, just a hole made in it. Today's egg was very small, and when I broke it open it had hardly any yolk inside. Could this be a result of iron deficiency from the red mites? Is there likely to be a link between mites and the behaviour? Fortunately it only seems to be her own eggs that are being attacked, not anyone else's. I did find an egg with a hole in some time ago too (don't know if it was her's but could have been, it was a blue one), but put that down to magpies or jays. I'm confused because it doesn't 'feel' like I'd imagine a regular egg-pecking problem to feel, it's so irregular and the eggs aren't being fully broken open and eaten. But I'm probably just being over-optmistic... Any ideas please?

[RichmondHens]

Laying in a different place may well be because of red mite - if there is a bad infestation in the nestbox they will certainly choose another place. Sometimes hens will peck at their eggs, maybe the new nestbox is a bit lighter? Just watch to make sure it does not escalate into egg eating. A yolkless egg is known as a wind egg, fairly common, they can appear at any time but are more common in older hens coming to the end of their laying life. It is nothing to worry about.

[kathyd]

Glad to hear a yolkless egg is nothing to worry about, thanks! The hen in question is my 'special needs' bird, so no surprises there I suppose. The box she chose was a big tea chest, facing the door, so very light yes because I'd not put a cover of any kind over it - usually I screen them a bit. So maybe it's that. I hope so. Although this morning I found a blue egg next to a bush in the run, with a big hole in and everything eaten inside . I assume it's the same bird's egg because she does drop them in odd places at times, but I don't know who's pecked and eaten it ... Definitely something to watch and try to knock on the head before it gets worse. Thx for your advice again .

[bearded bloke]

Could it have been holed by a toe nail rather than a beak I wonder,particularly if the hen was moving it around ?

[kathyd]

It'd be nice to think so BB, but the first hole was in the pointy end, and today's hole was much bigger and all the egg had been eaten. . I'll just have to try to watch and see who's doing it, and then work out what I can do about it.