Eating eggs problem

[ElizaMay]

Well I just finished my home made solution. As you can see it’s not perfect but I’m not going to cull the hens. They’re just being hens so I’m trying to outsmart them.

Well their not really 'just being hens' - that would be being broody and hatching them after there were a certain number in a nest.
Eating their potential offspring before they hatch is a terrible habit, that once they learn can be detrimental and catchy, because as we know hens aren't stupid - they learn by watching other birds in their group.
A roll away box is your solution, it's a good one! Separating the culprits from the flock is another, after assuring nutrition is sufficient and culling is not a personal option.

 

[Smileybans]

Well I just finished my home made solution. As you can see it’s not perfect but I’m not going to cull the hens. They’re just being hens so I’m trying to outsmart them.

Which way does the egg roll? It might be an illusion of the picture but it looks like the angle of the board is away from the camera. I wouldn’t cull the hens either. Mine are starting to get it. They sometimes still see the egg basket and show interest but I think once spring rolls around around here they’ll show less interest.

 

[Smileybans]

Here are some more pictures of my roll away nest box alterations.

The coop before:

I don’t have a full picture of the inside right now. But here’s some pictures of the nest box now. I left one of the boxes open and the eggs don’t roll out because I left the lip on the nest box. The person who built the coop made the lip with two different boards and it was a huge hassle getting the first board off. I am going to change out the nesting material to carpeting soon because the nesting pads get jammed up in the egg catch.

 

[Dreammaker]

I'm following this because I suspect an egg-eating problem with our flock too. I have 6 pullets (9 months old). They've been laying like champs! About 5 days ago, I saw a broken egg. It looked like most of the shell and contents were still in the nesting box, and since it was the first time I saw this, I chalked it up to being accidentally stepped on or something. I have a Lt. Brahma who's been known to squeeze herself in with 2 other birds in a 12" nesting box, so it seemed plausible.

Fast forward to today and I just saw another broken egg. This time, I didn't see much of the shell and only a small amount of the white and yolk. It was a gross, sticky mess and I had to wash my other intact eggs and fridge them (I hate when I can't have them out on my counter looking pretty haha).

We have ceramic eggs in place already. Plenty of nesting boxes (which clearly doesn't matter). They're on a 16% layer feed. I don't offer additional grit; they've always just eaten bits of naturally-occurring grit from the dirt in their run.

Questions:
1.) Could the addition of pine wood pellets and straw that I added to the run be making it harder for them to get their usual grit?
2.) Should I offer crushed oyster shells or would egg shells be better?
3.) Has anyone used a removable, washable nesting pad? I'm not keen on emptying and cleaning the nesting boxes of their straw each time this happens. I'd prefer to be able to rinse something and put it back.
4.) Could this be boredom-related? I haven't been giving them any flock block, suet cake type things lately. Just occasional veggie scraps and scratch 1-2x/week.

 

[Dreammaker]

Well their not really 'just being hens' - that would be being broody and hatching them after there were a certain number in a nest.
Eating their potential offspring before they hatch is a terrible habit, that once they learn can be detrimental and catchy, because as we know hens aren't stupid - they learn by watching other birds in their group.
A roll away box is your solution, it's a good one! Separating the culprits from the flock is another, after assuring nutrition is sufficient and culling is not a personal option.

How would one determine which bird is the culprit? This is my second broken egg in about a week and I'm not catching her/them in the act nor do I see any obvious signs, like egg shells, yolk, etc on them. I would hate to cull so early into the problem without having tried different feed, grit, etc. But I'm curious how people determine who the egg-eater in their flock is.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I'm following this because I suspect an egg-eating problem with our flock too. I have 6 pullets (9 months old). They've been laying like champs! About 5 days ago, I saw a broken egg. It looked like most of the shell and contents were still in the nesting box, and since it was the first time I saw this, I chalked it up to being accidentally stepped on or something. I have a Lt. Brahma who's been known to squeeze herself in with 2 other birds in a 12" nesting box, so it seemed plausible.

Fast forward to today and I just saw another broken egg. This time, I didn't see much of the shell and only a small amount of the white and yolk. It was a gross, sticky mess and I had to wash my other intact eggs and fridge them (I hate when I can't have them out on my counter looking pretty haha).

We have ceramic eggs in place already. Plenty of nesting boxes (which clearly doesn't matter). They're on a 16% layer feed. I don't offer additional grit; they've always just eaten bits of naturally-occurring grit from the dirt in their run.

Questions:
1.) Could the addition of pine wood pellets and straw that I added to the run be making it harder for them to get their usual grit?
2.) Should I offer crushed oyster shells or would egg shells be better?
3.) Has anyone used a removable, washable nesting pad? I'm not keen on emptying and cleaning the nesting boxes of their straw each time this happens. I'd prefer to be able to rinse something and put it back.
4.) Could this be boredom-related? I haven't been giving them any flock block, suet cake type things lately. Just occasional veggie scraps and scratch 1-2x/week.

With the shell that was left behind (even if it was just a tiny amount), were you able to check if it was normal thickness, or was it thinner than usual? I wouldn't necessarily assume they're egg eaters if there's not evidence of them deliberately breaking eggs to eat (vs taking advantage of eggs being broken accidentally).

1. I would offer supplemental grit, it's extremely cheap and good insurance. But lack of grit would not lead to egg eating.
2. Since you're using layer feed, you can offer oyster shell or crushed egg shell for extra calcium in case any of the birds need it.
3. Not sure if this is what you're looking for, but my free nest pads are simply empty feed bags folded to fit the bottom of the nest box. To add even more padding (as I have older hens that lay thinner shelled eggs) I put a few sheets of bubble wrap inside the feed bags before I fold them up. If you use plastic coated bags they can be wiped clean... or you can just pick them up and toss them in the garbage, broken egg and all.
4. Doubt it's boredom related, unless your run is completely barren of anything for them to do or interact with.

 

[Smileybans]

How would one determine which bird is the culprit? This is my second broken egg in about a week and I'm not catching her/them in the act nor do I see any obvious signs, like egg shells, yolk, etc on them. I would hate to cull so early into the problem without having tried different feed, grit, etc. But I'm curious how people determine who the egg-eater in their flock is.

rosemarythyme gave you some good advice on your first set of questions already. I wanted to answer this one since it can be hard to guess at who is eating the eggs. I’m pretty sure I know who the culprit is in my flock but only because of her personality. She’s a very curious hen who knows where I keep the food.
I have also found that if I hold an egg in front of some hens the ones that are eating the eggs will try and peck the egg. The ones that aren’t eating the eggs don’t care. I have been collecting eggs before and seen some hens trying to peck the eggs in the nesting boxes. Since I have changed out my nesting boxes though it’s made it very difficult for them to peck at the eggs. I’ve found very few eggs broken and my numbers have increased.

 

[AllyRose]

There are some DIY options on here and online. I‘m not sure if building or buying would be the cheaper way to go for you but i was able to convert my current nest box into a rollaway. Mine was six boxes mounted to the wall of the coop. I took the boxes down and mounted stilts on the front. Then screwed the back to the coop wall. I added a box to the front of the nest boxes to catch the eggs and it actually worked out.

Is it possible that you could post a photo of the nest box mod you described? TIA!

 

[AgnesGray]

We've had some egg eaters as well. We took some in that had that habit and soon they had taught a whole group of pullets. We put rollaway nest boxes in for this and the problem is mostly solved. I still have a few rebels who refuse to use the new nestbox so they can eat the eggs they lay, but we're back down to a few from many.

 

[Smileybans]

Is it possible that you could post a photo of the nest box mod you described? TIA!

These pictures were taken awhile ago and I included my drawings of my thought process. They’re just my way of trying to figure out what would work in my coop but the final product is in the drawings.