DANG Chickens

For the past week this is what we have been coming home to.

One chicken (we think just one) has taken a liking to eating raw eggs.  We think it is one of the black ones.  Now before you get all concerned about our chickens psychological well-being.........we will let you know that this is not unusual behavior when chickens are molting.  They need extra protein which should be adequate in their feed but sometimes they start eating eggs also.  The egg shells become more fragile when they are molting and therefore the shells are more likely to break in the nest.  If this happens they usually taste whatever goo is there and they find they like it.  We think this is what happened originally but now we think one is breaking it on purpose.  We tried a roll-away floor but that did not work. Tomorrow we are going to put who we think is the culprit in an isolation cage (the same cage we used for the injured chicken) and leave her in the general coop.  If the broken egg is in her cage we will have caught her. If the broken egg is still in the general coop we will have guessed wrong and have to start over.  Unfortunately there is no fixing this habit so we will be having stewed chicken this weekend.  :(