HELP! CHICKENS EATING EGGS

[Linnren]

Have you tried a combination of vinegar and mustard?

 

[cofast]

I feed my hens sunflower seeds hulled and unhulled they are calcium rich and they go nuts for them, we also take a bag of crickets and dump in the middle of the pen watching five chikens chase one hundred crickets is quite amusing . they also get mealworms. they have two compost piles to pick through one with just grass and leaves with kitchen scraps and one that is a worm compost pile they are pretty happy and produce for us in return how a farmer can stick a hen in a box feed her crap and think she will produce , well anyway before a stray, I am curios how do you feed oyster shells to them

 

[Ginbreesim]

We have begun our chicken hobby three years ago,so,we are new at this.I wasn't sure when the idea was brought up at first.But,now that we have chickens,I really enjoy going to the coop after work and just sit in there with them.We have Delaware,Buckeye and Chantecler...what a fun hobby for me. But lately my delaware (not a year,yet) have begun eating their eggs after they lay them.

. Watching them today,they(all) 4 of them get in the same box to lay...all together... I have read your posts and will be trying some of the suggestions...

I have tried the mustard,today..but they seem to like it...crazy girlzzz!

Being new at this, I'm glad to have this forum to go through.Well,I must try the smashed egg shells,maybe this will help stop the egg eating.

Another problem I have is my buckeyes have stopped laying altogether.Started last summer,it was a very hot summer and a colder then normal winter. In the summer they have shade,plenty of water(fresh,twice a day if need be) I do give them greens,fruits,nuts,yogurt and other things,too. In the winter they have a well insulated coop with vents so it is not too hot in there for them.They did go out to scratch in the snow and ground.I've been told they can stress out easily but they are only 2 yrs old this summer. I would appreciate some wise "what to do to get them to lay,advise" or is this what someone told me last week...take them for a trip to the freezer????

Thanks,

Gin

 

[HershelMS]

if you do the egg shells for supplimental calcium, be sure to wash them good and not leave any egg on them and make sure they are dry before you crush em up...
they will all get a taste for the egg left behind and you will have coop full of egg eaters... in my opinion, shells for calcium is a really bad idea... to a point... sadistic...
Remember when "mad cow disease" broke out a while back? and the pinpointed the root cause to feeding the cattle protien from other cattle... "maybe the good Lord was tryin to tell us somethin" oyster shell is best for supplimental calcium... if they dont get calcium the eggs they lay in the future robs it from their bones.... it's kinda like chicken ostioperosis. ...
besides... they are not eating eggs for calcium, anyway.. it is for the protien and it just plain tastes good to em... else you wouldnt find the whole shell left behind...
I would try meal worms as a treat for the ole gals... protien and they love the taste of em apparently... ya kill two birds with one stone (no offense to the coop there!).
rollout nests are always a good alternative for the die hard egg eater . i had one that just would not give up. had to take her out of the rotation, because egg eating is contageous...
one sees the other doing it and it immediately becomes a good idea...

 

[HershelMS]

The shade may be doing you in... sunlight is the number 1 stimulus for good laying ...
move em out where they can get alot of sun... you will see they enjoy it...
if that doesnt work after a while. scatter around some golf balls. not sure what it does,
maybe they see them... think they are eggs and lay out of jealousy... whatever it is... it
seems to work...

 

[seminolewind]

I'm out there several times a day hoping to see yellow on someones face.

 

[aart]

if you do the egg shells for supplimental calcium, be sure to wash them good and not leave any egg on them and make sure they are dry before you crush em up...
they will all get a taste for the egg left behind and you will have coop full of egg eaters... in my opinion, shells for calcium is a really bad idea... to a point... sadistic...
Remember when "mad cow disease" broke out a while back? and the pinpointed the root cause to feeding the cattle protien from other cattle... "maybe the good Lord was tryin to tell us somethin" oyster shell is best for supplimental calcium... if they dont get calcium the eggs they lay in the future robs it from their bones.... it's kinda like chicken ostioperosis. ...
besides... they are not eating eggs for calcium, anyway.. it is for the protien and it just plain tastes good to em... else you wouldnt find the whole shell left behind...
I would try meal worms as a treat for the ole gals... protien and they love the taste of em apparently... ya kill two birds with one stone (no offense to the coop there!).
rollout nests are always a good alternative for the die hard egg eater . i had one that just would not give up. had to take her out of the rotation, because egg eating is contageous...
one sees the other doing it and it immediately becomes a good idea...

Naaahh, Not True.

 

[ArtGirl]

Actually I did a test and it showed that chickens eating eggs (In almost ANY way) usually always eat egg

. We never feed our chickens egg shell and only one or twice have we given our chickens scrambled egg. We have NEVER had our chickens eating eggs and there eggs are some of the strongest I have ever had.

 

[aart]

I know of 2 flocks here and read of dozens that feed egg shell and have no egg eating....so I think that it is a coincidence/chance rather than an absolute.

 

[warmheart]

We feed egg shell regularly, but it is first toasted (important!) and then it is crushed to a very fine grit (also important). This is so that the hens don't recognize this as "Oh, hey, look.. a shell from an egg-- ergo, eggs must be delicious!" Toasting then crunching them up tiny makes the shells unrecognizable when added to their layer crumbles.