Chickens eating eggs

[aart]

Quote: Sounds pretty good.
Might want to put some fake egg/golf balls in other nests to 'spread the love'.

I find a flake of straw to work well as nest bedding.
Shove the flake down into nest and 'bowl' it out a bit,
they'll still scratch it down in the center but plenty of cushion left around the edges seems to do the trick.
Except newly laying pullets, they can tear the nest bedding up like crazy until they've laid a few eggs.
That's how I can tell a new one is laying, then they seem calm down.

 

[DesiLee13]

I took your advice and added extra bedding to the lay boxes. No broken eggs. I still need to find our golf balls that seem to be hiding in our garage to add to the boxes. They are still all using the same box (the hens that are still laying), and eggs seem to be getting covered up. My hens love to tear the boxes up. Now I just have the hazard of possibly putting my hand in poop.

 

[aart]

I took your advice and added extra bedding to the lay boxes. No broken eggs. I still need to find our golf balls that seem to be hiding in our garage to add to the boxes. They are still all using the same box (the hens that are still laying), and eggs seem to be getting covered up. My hens love to tear the boxes up. Now I just have the hazard of possibly putting my hand in poop.

Great!
Why would there be poop in the nests....they're not sleeping in them are they?

 

[DesiLee13]

No, they don't sleep in them. I do find a dropping or two in them though by the time cleaning day roles around.

 

[aart]

No, they don't sleep in them. I do find a dropping or two in them though by the time cleaning day roles around.

Sometimes that can happen when they lay......or a non-layer is hiding in them during the day.

 

[BillyRoper]

Ours have also started eating their eggs, despite access to crushed oyster shell, grit, and plenty of food and water. If they're on strike, they might find themselves 'fired' and replaced, soon. I put ping pong balls in their roosts to dissuade them, and they use them like soccer balls, apparently.

 

[mendor]

I had chickens that also started eating their eggs. I used plastic egg shakers. But I didn't think it worked very well. I think it was because they made a noise when they bumped them. Do you know what works best? Are golf balls, ping pong balls, plastic eggs, or ceramic eggs better then any of the others at dissuading the egg eaters?

mendor


**edited by Staff

 

[aart]

I had chickens that also started eating their eggs. I used plastic egg shakers. But I didn't think it worked very well. I think it was because they made a noise when they bumped them. Do you know what works best? Are golf balls, ping pong balls, plastic eggs, or ceramic eggs better then any of the others at dissuading the egg eaters?

mendor


**edited by Staff

Golf balls, ceramic or hard plastic fake eggs, maybe wooden craft eggs.
Ping pong balls are too light, as are plastic easter eggs unless you fill them with sand and glue the halves together.

 

[BillyRoper]

We had an egg drought for most of the winter. They were eating their eggs, or at least one of them was. I tried everything: putting ping pong balls in their roosts, giving them crushed oyster shells, checking more often...finally I think one of the possums which was depleting my flock until I depleted him may have gotten the culprit hen, because now we have eggs again from our diminished flock. (Shrugs)

 

[mendor]

I hate to see any predator get our birds but in your case maybe it was a blessing.