Canibal chickens?

[Jillea]

After wanting to research and then get chickens to raise, we were given twenty hens and two roosters with less than 24 hrs. notice. We took the mixed group, built a movable coop and run, and life was good for about two and a half months. Then I caught one of my hens red handed in stealing an egg out of a laying nest. I thought it was weird, but admittedly I didn"t know anything about raising chickens so what did I know. About a week later, I noticed that my egg count was down by three or four each day so I started to watch and there were three chicken theifs that I could identify. My husband "solved" the problem and we have had chicken dumplings, and chicken catchatori. Yes, I know it isn't spelled right, but anyway, I was wondering why the chickens started doing this. They are fed well, both scratch and Laying pellets and have fresh grass atleast once a week when we move the coop and run. There have been no stressors except maybe the heat, We recently moved the roosters out, but they remain near the hens. So what gives. We mostly just want eggs from the group, but an occasional chicken dinner is not out of the question. Mostly we just want to be self-sustaining now that we have retired to Montana and have the time, land, and energy to do so. Any suggestions-was it something I did or didn't do?

 

[Angie8eggs]

It's nothing you did or didn't do! Chickens just do crazy things! The fake easter egg or golf ball usually does the trick, just place it in their nesting box, it can take a couple of days, but hopefully it will work for you. How high is their nesting boxes? Sometimes if they are too low, that can be a problem.. Keep me posted! By the way, hope you are enjoying Montana!

 

[donrae]

Do they have enough space? 20 birds is a lot in a movable coop--how large is it?

 

[devora]

When you say 'well fed' do you mean they have food 24/7? And a ditto Q on the on the space. Must be a huge ark!

 

[Jillea]

My chickens are well fed. They have ample grass, scratch, laying pellets, crumble and occasionally pread bits and milk-a tip from the original owners. They have a 25x25 foot portable run which we designed so we can move both the coop and the run weekly. The coop is about two and a half feet off the ground and has twelve laying boxes, a roosting bar and a vynal floor.It is 8x4 feet and has a sloping roof from 6 feet down to 4 feet. The whole coop is mounted on wheels and can easily be moved by one person, albiet a strong person. The bottom is enclosed with chicken wire on three sides and is then reconected to the run after they both are moved. We are now down to 14 chickens for a variety of reasons and they have been laying between 12 and 16 eggs a day until about a week ago. That is when I caught three of the hens pecking at eggs and eating them. I am now down to 6 to 8 eggs a day and I am still finding an egg or two that has been broken and/or eaten. It has been hot, in the 90s and we water the chicken enclosure with a misting two, three times a day. There is shade in the morning and late afternoon and shade under the coop mid-day. We clean out all the nesting boxes and the coop daily I don't know what else to do. We have three adult ducks and ten freshly hatched ducklings, but they have their own enclosure separate from the chickens. Our two dogs don't bother either of them and the cats remain indoors.

 

[Jillea]

We lived in Ferndale, Ca when I was growing up and then in West Sacramento on and off between military stationings, Had ducks as a kid, but never got to have chickens till now. My husband and I designed the coop and run so I could move it since there are too many cayotes and wolves in the area to risk free range. It is huge, but I can move it by myself which is important to me.

 

[donrae]

So......space isn't the issue lol. Sounds like a nice set up. I totally understand the wanting to be able to move it yourself thing. When my honey builds things he tends to forget I'm not freakishly strong like he is!

Egg eating usually starts as oppertunistic. An egg breaks somehow, looks yummy, and they scarf it down. Some folks think boosting protein will help. Personally, I think birds are huge creatures of habit and once it's set it's hard to break. There are threads on here about using wooden decoy eggs or blowing out eggs and filling them with mustard or something similarly nasty to the hen, to deter her from cracking the egg. It seems to be kind of a YMMV--your milage may vary-- type of thing. Some birds are easy to break, some are quite persistant. Sorry I can't be of more help.

 

[devora]

Do they have oyster shell?

 

[azygous]

I just this minute found a broken egg in one of the nest boxes. This happens from time to time, and it's not terribly significant in itself. But this time, the egg remained mostly uneaten, unlike every other time up until now when the egg contents, especially yolk, would be thoroughly picked over. Some eggs have thin shells and break when the hen steps on it after laying it. They don't seem to steal eggs to consume them like you are describing.

That said, I think there may be something about my hens' behavior that may have significance for your hens. I've been feeding my hens Forco, a prebiotic nutritional supplement for a feather picking problem I've been experiencing for a couple years. I believe Forco has increased the amount of nutrients my chickens are absorbing from their feed, and the feather picking has all but disappeared.

Now, they seem not to be craving the contents of these occasional broken eggs, too. Could be they're getting enough nutrients now so as not to need to eat the eggs? I wonder if your problem hens have a nutritional imbalance and that may be why they're craving the eggs. Of course, once hens start egg-eating, it often becomes a habit, a self perpetuating problem.

You might check out my thread on feather picking to see what this Forco is all about. It's still here on the first page, or was when I posted this.

 

[Jillea]

They have a separate feeder with oyster shell in it 24/7. Thanks for the suggestions. I'll try some of them, except maybe the mustard in the shell one as I distinctly do not like mustard, not the looks of it or the smell. But I'll try the others. I think I may be down to just one cannibal so It shouldn't be too hard to rehabilitate her, I hope!