Cracked eggs everyday from expensive birds? help please

[MMPoultryFarms]

I am having a problem and its getting really frustrating. no matter what I do or how I build my nest boxes several of my main breeding girls eggs are getting cracked mostly at the tip of the egg and you cant see them till you candle. What on earth can I do different. I tried wood chips they kick em all out so I went to grass same thing. So i went to large straw still rejected it. padding the wood boxes to me would only cause fece build up. I thought about laying bubble wrapin them and topping that with hay then removing every few days. These are my main breeding birds as I said buckeyes cochins and white plymouth rocks. any advice would be greatly appreciated thanks. fyi it doesnt matter what kind of nest box i use this is happening everywhere.

 

[Silkie-Feet]

some ppl use the rudder tiles that are installed on kid bedroom floors.

 

[Southernbelle]

I lined my boxes with outdoor patio grass, then laid hay on that. The patio grass keeps all the hay from getting kicked out and gives some protection to the eggs.

 

[silkiechicken]

If your girls have been laying for a few months, there should be very little if any poop in the nests. You'll want to make sure they are not roosting in the boxes.

 

[Wynette]

Quote:
Ditto. To get them to stop using the nest boxes to roost in, put a wadded up old feed sack, pail, or box in the nest boxes after around 6 p.m. since they lay before then; remove it early in the morning.

I use very thick, commerical grade carpet runner from Home Depot cut to size for each box; then, put wood shavings on top. They need the wood chips, as they are in the habit of picking them up & placing on their backs. To clean the carpet runner pads, just remove & whack them against a fence post. If they are in need of heavier cleaning, simply hose them off & let air dry.

 

[tuesdays chicks]

and besides what everyone else has said sounds like you have weak shells as well make sure they are getting enough calcium.

 

[tammyd57]

Rubber shelf liner works very well in the nest box to reduce damage to eggs. I use that stuff for a lot of different things, nest boxes, incubator floor, roost wrap, padding between egg flats, etc.

 

[MMPoultryFarms]

Quote:
we can rule out low calcium sorry I am a commercial feed licenced dealer My hens run off my custom 17% layer feed with granite and oyster shells offered as well free choice. the problem is in my boxes there made of wood perhaps I can build higher walls on them so the hole getting in to them is small but the actual box is big once inside. Silkie every girl I am having this problem with are new layers only laying within the weeks. they dont roost in there boxes though. well in my hen house the pullets climb in the boxes so we turn off the lights and move them all to the roosts. it looks more to me like there actually roosting on the edge of the boxes and laying the eggs causing them to fall a few inches. I like the carpet and rubber perhaps I can try that. what about big leaves of johnson grass under woodchips those are easy to come by here LOL its big and bulky.

 

[Cuban Longtails]

I was going to suggest building up the lip of the box so they can't kick as much out, but you've already mentioned you might be doing that.

What about lining the bottom of the nest box with sand and then putting your shavings and such over the top of that?

 

[Costa Rica Art]

I cut the bottom of my nest boxes in 3 pieces. The front and rear piece across the nest box is at a 45 degrees, looking from the end it looks like the bottom half of a stop sign. Everything rolls to the center of the nest box. With a 2 inch high front lip my wood shavings stay in the box even for those hens who like to scratch all the shavings to suite themselves, most of the shavings stay in the box (so do the eggs). HTH