Is this sign of a hen eating eggs?

[KaseySnow]

Hey all!
The local history park coop I help out with has had a suspicious problem with eggs suddenly being broken open and all the inside goop being gone/splashed everywhere in the nesting boxes. I picked up this egg the other day and saw what looked like the beginnings of some henpecking.

Is that what this is? I've found another one like it before.

A few months ago was when I first noticed the occasional crushed up egg. It was around the time when we had a pretty severe rat problem in the coop. I used to find eggs broken open with rat chew marks on the shells, so I suspect one day a rat left a broken egg and a hen discovered the yummy contents they left behind. The rats are pretty much gone and the coop is sealed up from them now, so the only time they can get in is during the day when the coop door is open.

It seems like it mostly happens at night, so I'm wondering if it isn't a combo of boredom and not wanting to be out in the cold (it's winter in Colorado where we are). We have one hen, a Deleware, that is constantly poking her head inside of nesting boxes. I used to think she was trying to pick a spot to lay, but now I think she may be looking for eggs. She's super food motivated, moreso than any of our other hens. She normally does not like being touched or picked up, but if you put food in front of her, she doesn't care how much you're handling her, as long as she's eating. She's the first to run over to investigate possible food sources, and will shove her way through any crowd, ignoring pecks, to get to food.

Anyway, I'm worried she'll teach the behavior to the other hens, if she hasn't already. The eggs I've found lately do not have any rat chew marks on them that I can find, so it seems to me that it must be a chicken. Or someone is a VERY clumsy layer and is stepping on the eggs (this has happened with one of our Brahmas before, but she doesn't lay anymore and I never see her in the nest boxes).

We feed them layer feed and they have plenty of access to oyster shells at all times. They get a scoop of mealworms every few mornings and the museum has a coin operated scratch feeder for guests to toss in there, but that's really all they get. We recently installed chicken swings both in the coop and in the run and we had a planter with mesh on top for them to crop off the tops of green things, though we took it out for winter (and because the rats had tunneled into it).

I've read that one way to cure them of this is to blow out the yolk of an egg and fill it with mustard so that when the hen goes to peck at it, she tastes mustard and doesn't like it, thus learning to stop pecking eggs. I've also read about wooden eggs and roll out nesting boxes, but the museum that runs this coop doesn't have the budget to buy a bunch of new nesting boxes. We do have two wooden eggs that I can request they keep out in the boxes (maybe move them around daily?) that might help deter the hens. Anyone have any other suggestions?

For now all we are doing is trying to have all volunteers collect the eggs as soon as we see them or put them in egg cartons that we keep in the coop if we don't want them/can't take them with us. I've asked, but removing the Deleware from the flock is not an option at this time.

 

[azygous]

If you can find a handy person with a saw and a hammer, you can make one of these inserts for your nest box.

 

[rosemarythyme]

That does look like a possible peck mark.

Roll out nests would be probably the best option so maybe ask the other volunteers if anyone has family or friends who enjoys woodworking to cobble some together.

As far as fake eggs, cheap and easy "fake eggs" that work well are golf balls. Not sure how many nest boxes you have but I'd put 2 per box. You could try the mustard trick as well though some hens will even eat the mustard!

 

[aart]

That does look like a possible peck mark.

.....or if shell is weak could be from a toenail.
I'd go with some fake eggs in the nests and frequent gathering.
If you haven't found a bunch of broken egg messes in the nests, I wouldn't panic.
The mustard will just make a mess.

the museum has a coin operated scratch feeder for guests to toss in there

This could be an issue.
Layer feed in meant to the sole ration, scratch is like candy, tasty but rather low in nutrition.
Would be better to put layer pellets in the dispenser.

 

[rosemarythyme]

This could be an issue.
Layer feed in meant to the sole ration, scratch is like candy, tasty but rather low in nutrition.
Would be better to put layer pellets in the dispenser.

Might be difficult, but if you know how much scratch is in that dispenser, try and figure out how much scratch is being doled out on an average day, then divide by number of birds. If visitors are feeding large amounts of it, that'll definitely throw off their nutrition intake and may contribute to weaker shells.

Same with the mealworms... see if you can figure out how much they're getting each day.

My hubby is a sucker for those types of dispensers so even when I tell him he's just paying to make other people's animals fat, he still wants to feed them.

Layer pellets in the dispenser would be the best option, as long as the area the birds are housed in stays resonably dry most of the time (since pellets tend to just melt when wet).

 

[KaseySnow]

Thanks for all of the input, everyone!

I will send that video to the museum and see if they can find a volunteer willing to convert those nesting boxes. Do the hens still find the rollout nesting boxes comfortable without straw to soften/warm it up? We have a few pullets still figuring out where to lay and I'd hate for them to opt to keep laying in the straw on the ground instead of up in the boxes.

I have not noticed any weak shelled eggs, the eggs we are getting from this flock if anything are much more sturdy than the ones I get from the store. We had one pullet who laid a softer shelled egg for her first, but that was a while ago and her eggs have been normal since.

Getting rid of the dispenser isn't likely since the museum relies on that money to pay for the chicken feed. We have been mixing in the layer pellets with the scratch in the coin dispenser for a few months now, though I'm sure the hens just peck after the scratch first. I only give them mealworms once a week, I don't think anyone else is doing it. So I doubt it's an issue. It's mostly to make up for the fact that they don't have access to any grasses or true free ranging since their run, while large, is all dirt and woodchips. So not many bugs to forage.

We fill up the dispenser maybe twice a week, just depends on how many visitors come to the history park. Right now it's getting filled up once a week or less because it's cold and there aren't as many people with kids coming by (as that's who normally uses it).

 

[aart]

Getting rid of the dispenser isn't likely since the museum relies on that money to pay for the chicken feed.

No need to get rid of the dispenser, just make sure it's mostly pellets in there.

I will send that video to the museum and see if they can find a volunteer willing to convert those nesting boxes.Do the hens still find the rollout nesting boxes comfortable without straw to soften/warm it up?

There are better roll out designs than that video, troughs are kind of shallow on those so they can still reach eggs.
It will take some getting used to roll out nests, chickens don't like change.
Start with bedding in them like the old nests, then slowly remove it over a month or so to get the roll out affect.