CRACK! BAD CHICKEN

[mario49]

Quote:
i have hey under them or straw.

 

[cutechickies1]

I have a good bit of straw in all my nesting boxes, but the hens dig it all out by morning when I return. I find it spread all over the floor and not a a bit in the boxes.

Any reason why they are doing this?

 

[Toast n Jelly]

Quote:
Mine do that too but leave a little in the nest to lay their eggs

When I see a hole in the egg it makes me think that a toe nail lightly stepped on it.

 

[swtangel321]

Did you happen to try the golf balls ??

 

[halo]

I dont use hay anymore as they scratch it out as they are settling their fluffy butts down. The bottom of my next box is wooden, so I had found some eggs with a tiny crack in the past. Now I use wood shavings or sawdust, and have it 2 or 3 inches deep so even when they nest and dig they cant get down to the bottom, and lay their eggs on the nice cushy shavings. No more cracked eggs.

 

[annmarie]

Quote:
Funny mine was a BR also, did the same thing.

Oh this is weird, I have a BR and she does the exact same thing! And none of my other chickens do this, just the BR! I can't believe this could be a Barred Rock thing but now I'm wondering!

 

[bloomnbeauty]

I had a Delaware that did the same thing when she first started laying. I was afraid that I would have to cull her but she stopped doing it on her own in a few days. My guess is she was just checking out what she had laid.

 

[mario49]

Quote:
yes and they lay with the golfballs i switch the golfball place to where ever they havent kicked out straw like sumbody said!

 

[swtangel321]

Quote:
yes and they lay with the golfballs i switch the golfball place to where ever they havent kicked out straw like sumbody said!

The point of the golf balls is for them to be in the nest where the chicken that likes to crack her egg likes to lay, that b/c after she lays it and starts pecking things hopfully she gets on of the golf balls and figures out "ohhh I cant crack it" gets bored and then leaves.

How many nest boxes do you have ? I would put a few in each nest.... At walmart you can buy fake/pratice golf balls they are way cheaper than the real ones and seem to work the same !!

 

[Jenski]

You might toss a few wooden eggs in the boxes . . .