crazy chickens

[khgiant12]

Whats with chickens stacked 3 high fighting over one nest when there are six more just like it. One hen was setting and they layed eggs all around her everyday so it really messed up hatch time and also a hen tried to take the first baby hatched off under her. I managed to save 3 chicks with hens fighting over her babies. I take all the eggs now so no one can set. I hatched my own 20 giants and they are doing good. They sure eat a lot and after reading in here about the crop getting stopped up which I figured out was the front of the neck I worried about them. They are always so full.. How much does young chicks eat. (8 weeks old)

 

[Den in Penn]

With the hens in one nest try putting fake eggs in the other boxes. They like to lay where its safe for the egg. Course they have their favorite nest to, and that can cause a traffic jam. An impacted crop very is rare, if all they are eating is starter. If your worried just put in what they eat in a day plus a little more for them to grow on. Adjust the amount you put in until there is just a little left each day.

 

[khgiant12]

I have egg gourds same size as real ones but wondered if I should paint them white first. These come in handy from time to time. I now have a problem with chickens eating their eggs. I am feeding my laying hens the laying mash with all the nutrients one is suppose to need plus give them kelp in their water. They get table scraps like peelings and strawberries or watermelon and lettuce. I also dry egg shells and crush to give back to them in their feed. They always have feeders full so they shouldnt get hungry but now the young ones 8 weeks old in another pen get a qt of starter grower at different times a day. I watch the crop on these after reading on here about the problems with that. It made me cut back on their feed but not enough to let them get hungry just till their crop goes down and not bulging.

 

[Den in Penn]

The color of the decoy egg doesn't matter, people do use plastic Easter eggs weighted with sand. I surmise the gourds are dry and light weight, if they are find away to make them close to egg weight. Ping pong balls have been tried and found all over the coop. As to the egg eating, there are various ways to deal with that. Blow out an egg and fill it with a foul tasting substance. Put curtains on the nest boxes to keep the eggs out of sight. Roll away boxes where the eggs roll out of the hens sight and reach. Or find the guilty party and separate. Hunger doesn't drive egg eating so much as its finding some thing good to eat and going for it.

 

[khgiant12]

I might have brought on this problem by feeding broken eggs to them.

And my nests are not private enough I am thinking. I built a chicken house 4x8 and a roof line tall enough for me to walk in. Then I cut the long side out just enough to fit a recktangle box sticking out and a lid to open to collect eggs from outside . Inside, the nests are divided by only 2x4s and I think I need to work on them some. Put a full wall up between each nest and a small board across the front at the bottom. This would also stop the piling up they do.