Caught wet-beaked!

[ChicKat]

Sometimes egg-eating is a crime of opportunity. ( i.e. she didn't break the egg and eat it---she is just the one who happened to find the already broken egg.)

If that were to be the case, I've heard that the chicken will instinctively eat the egg and the shell for a number of reasons---among them: to keep a source of rotting away from the other eggs, and to not have something in the nest that would attract predators.


Innocent until proven guilty? Or are you sure she was the one who broke the egg? :O)

 

[marlo1968]

I ended up finding very old plans (1930's I think) for a dark box specifically for egg pecking.

Basically it amounts to a laying box 4 foot long without dividers and only 2 small entry/exit holes (1 at each end). A community box that stays fairly dark inside.
On the day of completion the pecking stopped and I have never had another problem.
Like the old trough feeders (which I built to stop food flinging) many of the old designs work better than the new.

PS... Good post above. You can get a game cock scratch with BOSS in it at the co-op usually. Add a "small" amount of dry cat food to the scratch. And remember not to overdo it on the scratch. About a cup for every 4 chickens per day so they will eat the complete feed and get what they need.

Great info on the amount of scratch....I think I have been overdoing it some, thank you, two questions, what is BOSS? What is its purpose?