Blue Jay Eating Eggs!

[Birdsong 82]

Roll away nest boxes are a good idea too. Maybe if they don’t find eggs they will move on.

 

[Lindsay Jane]

Do not kill the scrub jay. The bird along with all other native songbirds are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918:

https://dnr.maryland.gov/wildlife/Pages/plants_wildlife/MBirdTreatyAct.aspx

"The Migratory Bird Treaty Act is the primary legislation protecting native birds in the United States and one of this country's earliest environmental laws. It prohibits the "taking" any native birds; "taking" can mean killing a wild bird or possessing parts of a wild bird, including feathers, nests, or eggs. Exceptions are allowed for hunting game birds and for research purposes, both of which require licenses or permits. It is also illegal to try to incubate wild bird eggs, to keep nests or eggs even for "show and tell" educational purposes, or to have road-killed birds in your possession without a permit. (Note: Injured native birds should be brought immediately to a licensed, trained wildlife rehabilitator who handles such species.)

It is illegal to remove or move nests that contain eggs or nestlings, even if:

• they are in an inconvenient location

• the young create piles of poop underneath the nest (like Barn Swallows)

• they build an unsightly nest and drop pigeon and rat remains on the sidewalk in front of an upscale apartment building in Baltimore.

It is illegal to transport, trap or kill native non-game adult birds like Blue Jays or Mockingbirds without a permit, even if they are harassing birds at nest boxes or feeders."

How about you describe your coop? You say you have two chickens but find eggs (plural) broken and have a hen that often goes broody. How often are you actually collecting eggs? With multiple broken eggs it doesn't sound like it is daily. Why not change the nest boxes to the roll away kind? The egg is placed in area where the Jay can't even reach it.

We collect eggs daily. My husband and I each check once a day- he checks mid-morning and I check around 6 in the evening when I get home from work. I misspoke when I said eggs (plural).... we will find one egg at a time broken... eggs (plural) over the course of months, as in, this is a recurring issue.

I have attached a picture of our coop. There are three nesting boxes in the back. I will look into roll-away boxes. Thanks for the information!

 

[Lindsay Jane]

Roll away nest boxes are a good idea too. Maybe if they don’t find eggs they will move on.

Thanks for the advice! I haven't heard of roll-away next boxes; I will start doing some research on it!

 

[All Ball]

Roll away nest boxes are a good idea too. Maybe if they don’t find eggs they will move on.

GREAT idea.

 

[mudwoman]

I have 2 scrub jays that watch my coop and when my freerangers lay, they get to the egg before me almost every time. My chickens HATE the rollaways we installed you cannot put straw or any nesting material in them or the egg won’t “roll” anywhere. They use them sometimes and Yay us, we get an egg. There must be a huge clutch of hidden eggs on the property somewhere, I cant find it if it exists. I’m at my wits end. I do not want to coop my free range flock up with a cover, I don’t want to shoot the 2 offending jays. What to do?? ANYONE???? We want our eggs!

 

[kmkp]

I have 2 scrub jays that watch my coop and when my freerangers lay, they get to the egg before me almost every time. My chickens HATE the rollaways we installed you cannot put straw or any nesting material in them or the egg won’t “roll” anywhere. They use them sometimes and Yay us, we get an egg. There must be a huge clutch of hidden eggs on the property somewhere, I cant find it if it exists. I’m at my wits end. I do not want to coop my free range flock up with a cover, I don’t want to shoot the 2 offending jays. What to do?? ANYONE???? We want our eggs!

I know u posted a year ago. I did'nt see any solutions from anyone. I am having the exact same thing happening!! So frustrating!!!! I am losing 4 eggs a day, multiply that by 7 and thats a insane amount of eggs to lose to the dang birds. I have killed about 5 of them in the past year and no have spotted Towhees coming in the do the same egg damage. I am feeling like a crazed person, lol. I have considered relocation of their nest boxes to a place outside the coop. But ugh.
I have tried bribing and luring the criminal birds away from the coop with a flock block and it seems to work, until its gone. If you have any suggestions, I am all ears. Thanks

 

[Mamatomany123]

I know u posted a year ago. I did'nt see any solutions from anyone. I am having the exact same thing happening!! So frustrating!!!! I am losing 4 eggs a day, multiply that by 7 and thats a insane amount of eggs to lose to the dang birds. I have killed about 5 of them in the past year and no have spotted Towhees coming in the do the same egg damage. I am feeling like a crazed person, lol. I have considered relocation of their nest boxes to a place outside the coop. But ugh.
I have tried bribing and luring the criminal birds away from the coop with a flock block and it seems to work, until its gone. If you have any suggestions, I am all ears. Thanks

1. I would stop feeding wild birds. Once their food nk is gone they will still come back and eat the chickens food or, as you're experiencing. The eggs.

2. Either a roll away box or a covered run. Wild birds are a huge nuisance. They fine every little opening. When we had our snow storm here in texas the weight of the snow must have somehow created an opening and I kid you not there were hundreds of sparrows in the run eating the chicken feed and making the run their home. Wasnt fun fixing that in -20 weather with 12inches of snow.