Egg eaters or due to lack of food

[Julie F]

Hi all - this past Friday I was out of town and someone shut the door to the coop which is where the food is. My 8 chickens were able to forage in dirt and were given some veggie scraps but no one noticed that the door was shut. They did have water as this is in their run. A couple of them had also gotten out and had to be put back in the run. I came home Sunday and discovered the problem. I was getting roughly 5 eggs a day. I found 8 in the yard from Friday to Sunday and then have only gotten 1 egg a day since. This morning I noticed them fighting over an eggshell (yikes!). So my question is, is the lack of eggs due to them not having much to eat for 48 hours and the stress associated with not being able to get to their roost or laying boxes or are they eating the eggs. I have seen no residue but they definitely had a shell this morning and they were all fighting over it. I have started the suggestions on this site of taking out the bedding in the laying boxes and will be putting fake eggs in this afternoon and will also get them some cat food for added protein. Thanks!

 

[3riverschick]

Sounds like you have a good plan. I would go with it. I would double check with somebody else here on byc about how much cat food to give them.
Best ,
Karen

 

[BirdHead]

So far you got a plan, but they need full space all times as well as a clean space, clean waterers and feed that doesn't have dirt or poo in it. Use the fake eggs to break the egg eater habit and ramp up on some game conditioner feed (bluebonnet farms is really appealing to the chickens, as it smells so good I wanna eat it) plus has a decent protein percentage, also mix in some high protein crumble, please refrain from using cat food at all costs. Not that I know much about it but in my honest opinion it's just stupid when there's plenty of options here for higher protein.

Also go buy some cackle berry treats they sell at tractor supply as they're really sweet smelling high protein treats, the back has a recommended dose of 1-4 treats a hen but I have four hens I just grab a decent handful and let them eat out of my hand. It smells a lot like brown sugar and smashes like it as well, noticed corn chunks in them so that's probably another reason they love it, at first only one hen loved them but then the rest caught on to the flavor as I got some picky *** hens.

Also, occasionally treat them with non salted non buttered scrambled eggs, when you cook it please use a ceramic pan if one is available otherwise a regular pan will work the eggs will just stick as you can't add NOTHING ELSE to these eggs as it will mess with your flock especially butter. Salt is also dangerous.

 

[BirdHead]

Oh and one more thing, GRAB THEM EGGS. Don't let eggs sit in the nest boxes anymore then a few hours after lay if you can during this process of breaking their newly found habit. They'll figure it out shortly!

 

[lazy gardener]

You can use cat food as an occasional protein boost. I would not use it frequently. You can certainly use a little butter, salted or unsalted to scramble the eggs for your birds. There will not be enough fat, dairy or salt in the butter to make a bit of difference.

I would guess that your birds are reacting to the days without food. Thankfully, they had water. When ever I leave my birds for any length of time, I put water in the coop as well as their usual water in the run, so that if someone gets shut in the coop due to door malfunction, at least they don't die from dehydration. It's possible (though not likely b/c of the short duration) that the days without food may spur your birds into a molt. With resumed feeding, increased protein, you should see laying pick back up unless they do go into a molt.

 

[chickens really]

Hmmmm....
I'm pretty sure once they get back into using the Nest boxes and roosting and the routine goes back to normal..They will not cause any more issues...Dont start changing things until life for them is routine again

 

[Julie F]

And now today it is 3:40 pm and not one single egg out of 8 of them. And I have been checking every2 hours! I just bought cat food but I won't give them much. Can't get out to a chicken feed store until tomorrow and I really want to get them going. Thanks so much for your suggestions!

 

[BirdHead]

You could also boil some real lean 95+% beef and ground it to bits and feed them a little each (no salt, a hint is fine but really IMHO none) it's a great carnivorous treat.

 

[chickens really]

Cat food wont bring on egg production...
They got stressed and Chickens hate change....
Give them time and as I said keep up with the routine you had...Eggs will follow..