Chickens eating eggs we think. Please help

agabrysh

In the Brooder
Mar 7, 2016
2
0
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Chicken Help. chickens are eating eggs ( we think)
Hello Everyone, i am wondering if some of you could help me with my chicken flock. we have only had hens for a year. we have 4 hens that are about 2 years old and one that is about a year old. in the last 2 weeks we added 3 pullets that are about 13 weeks old. currently we have 2 of the 2 yr old hens that are broody and sitting on there golf balls in the same nesting box
Our coop is 8x4 and has 3 nesting boxes on one side and 2 roosts on the other side with a pen about about 14 x 18 ft.
We have never had missing eggs until recently and we don't know who the culprit is. We started with 5 fertilized eggs under our broody hens and now we only have 2. we have also noticed our egg production down but with a coupe broody hens it didn't stick out.
I feel like its the pullets but i'm not sure. they don't roost with the other hens, they kick them off the lower roost. The pullets roost on the nesting box lip.
How can i tell who's eating the eggs? i check beeks and don't see anything on it
thanks in advance for the help
 
Sure you don't have a pest problem (besides the chickens lol)?

Sometimes you find the culprit with yolk on their face, so to speak...

There are a lot of different ways to get a chicken to stop eating eggs, but the only way I have ever had to use is by mustard. You can take an egg you're going to eat anyways, blow the goodies out. Scramble them, have a nice breakfast, whatever. Then you take the shell, which is still intact because you blew the egg instead of cracking it, and you take a syringe full of mustard and inject that into the little hole you blew the insides out. Fill the egg with mustard. Chickens HATE mustard, and once a hen pecks an egg full of it, it doesn't take her long to realize that eating eggs is a bad idea.

You should make sure your flock is getting adequate nutrition. Sometimes hens will eat their own eggs as a sort of pica...Or sometimes an egg just breaks/has a thin shell, a hen gets curious and pecks at it, and realizes, hey, eggs taste really good! Then she gets a habit you have to break lol.
 
Question, as I am experiencing the same problem...Ho do you blow out an egg?

Addle your egg by shaking it. Busts up all those membranes and makes the stuff pour out easier. Poke a hole in the little end, then the big end. If you're not squeamish, you can put your mouth on an end and blow...or you can use a tube or a syringe or whatever gets it out. I'm sure there are ways to do this and make it look prettier, but the hen's not going to care.

Good luck!
 
We had a Steller Jay eating our eggs. Nasty bird. So check other option if you don't think your birds are the culprit.
We put in fake eggs and chased that bird away. The problem has stopped for now.
 
Addle your egg by shaking it. Busts up all those membranes and makes the stuff pour out easier. Poke a hole in the little end, then the big end. If you're not squeamish, you can put your mouth on an end and blow...or you can use a tube or a syringe or whatever gets it out. I'm sure there are ways to do this and make it look prettier, but the hen's not going to care.

Good luck!
How big of a hole? Homegrown egg white/yolk is a lot thicker than dish soap and/or mustard, and I obviously don't want the bollixed egg leaking before they peck at it or they'll figure out it's been 'booby-trapped'. I think they have already figured out the ceramic eggs, as they keep kicking them to the side or even out of the nesting boxes.

Chickens may be weird, but they're by no means stupid!
 
Doesn't require that big of a hole at all, especially if you addle (shake hard) the egg first and bust up the insides. You can also try grocery store eggs, they're older and looser.

It's hard to describe in words how big the hole needs to be...Ever had a wire clotheshanger? The gauge of the metal, about that wide.

My birds fell for it every time, they probably thought the egg was already cracked and fair game...If you're especially worried, perhaps some masking tape will help.
 
A very good idea! Perfect especially if you're eating or selling your eggs for eating, or even wanting to select eggs to incubate separately. Might consider this when my younger girls get old enough.

Lil' helper did a good job, too.

Is there anyway to get this to work with a flock you're planning on having a broody in, though?
 
Are you asking how you'd adapt the roll-out nest to a broody nest?

Many of us have a special nest fixed up for a broody. I sectioned off half a coop and built a very roomy broody nest on the floor. It's out of the way of every day egg-laying traffic and it's quiet and private so the rest of the flock doesn't bother the broody and the chicks when they hatch. The chicks are on the floor so they are able to get in and out of the nest with no problem.
 

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