Egg eating chickens...

[Cheery Cluck]

I have 7 hens that are all still in their prime as far as egg laying. Recently the chickens have started eating their eggs. I will go out to the coop and find two or three cracked eggs. The little bantams are the only two that don't eat the eggs. I could be getting many more eggs but the chickens get to them first. Any advice of how to stop them?
I'm trying oyster shells. Will those work?

 

[Mahonri]

No, you need to spend a weekend in the coop and figure out the culprits and remove them from your flock, once they start they won't stop and they spread it to the others.

Be certain they are getting lots of protien. I give mine some salmon or tuna every week.

 

[sillybirds]

I'd recommend to at least put some fake eggs or golf balls in the nest boxes, so when they try to eat them and can't they might be put off to the idea of egg eating. It worked for mine, but they were still in the early stages of learning to eat eggs, as they had only eaten maybe one or two and pecked a few. (Do a search too, as there are a bunch of threads with great advice.) Good luck!

 

[thewarriorchild]

Quote:
I totally agree, fake eggs cured mine real quick.

 

[Cheery Cluck]

Thanks I'll try that out.

 

[A.J.'s]

about all you can do is arrange for the nest to allow the eggs to fall back out into a catching area.. once they do it ive heard its hard to stop it.
feeding them egg shells will bring that on if you dont break them up really good.
Id give the golf ball a good try.. im sure that it would wrinkle their beaks and shatter their brains if they gave that a try..teehee

 

[DTchickens]

Often a lot of people will say they won't stop after they start. But it's untrue as i've broken quite a few myself and seen many many broken over the years.

Methods of stopping/preventing it-
Give them oyster shells, and vitamin D to keep the egg shells strong.. Also keep them from being stressed.

Golf balls and fake eggs are a good thing, but hens will try to hatch the "eggs" sometimes

Feed them the egg until they get enough since sometimes it can be them lacking something. Don't worry too much as chickens will not recognize a pile of goo on the ground as a egg, as much as people want them to be human and be that smart they just aren't. But personally to stop it i mixed up egg/ crushed shells with bread and fed it to them.. Works well, since then they get all the "Goodness" from the egg, calcium from the egg shell, and whatever bread does for them. Personally im not sure but i've always fed bread to them for a treat. Too much makes them fat and then it causes other problems. So remember to feed in moderation.

And you should always, always.. Get the eggs out as soon as possible to keep them from breaking/pecking them during this time. I've heard of other things as well but can't think of them at the moment, it's late.. Im tired.

 

[Cheery Cluck]

so usually they do this when they need some other mutrition? What should I regularly feed them as grain?

 

[Ethan]

i just always go to the flea market and buy some old golfballs and put in the laying boxes . the egg eatin stopped