Egg eaters

[Missa4848]

Hi everyone I have 5 black Asian hens that are6 months old and they started eating their eggs so far I have tried adding oyster shells and putting ping pong balls in their nests any suggestions on trying to stop them from eating their eggs ? Thanks for any suggestions

 

[EricaCAL]

Hi there! Yes, we had this issue too and we ordered some ceramic eggs online to help them stop cannablising their eggs and it worked! They cannot tell these eggs apart from the other "real" eggs and so they gave up trying to eat them. I ordered 8 of them on Amazon in the brown color (which matches the egg color they lay). Hope this helps!

 

[aart]

Hi everyone I have 5 black Asian hens that are6 months old and they started eating their eggs so far I have tried adding oyster shells and putting ping pong balls in their nests any suggestions on trying to stop them from eating their eggs ? Thanks for any suggestions

You need something heavier than ping pong balls,
fake eggs or golf balls will work much better.

Are these newly laying birds?
Have you found any shell left behind...
...if so, are the shells good and hard or thin and brittle?

How are you adding the oyster shells?
What all and how exactly are you feeding?

How big is your coop and run, in feet by feet?
Dimensions and pics, inside and out, would help here.

 

[GC-Raptor]

I had an egg eater in my Barred Rock flock. Of course when she pecked and broke an egg the others would discover and enjoy the egg too.
I was finding remnants of egg a couple of times a week.
It was easy for me to suspect the culprit. The lowest on the pecking order. She stayed in the coop most of the time, only coming out at treat time or to Free Range.
The coop has nest boxes hanging off the coop. I opened the lid one day and caught her pecking an egg.
I culled her 2 weeks ago. No broken eggs since.
I also have a ceramic egg in each nest. I believe she would've broke more eggs if I didn't have any. GC

 

[Missa4848]

You need something heavier than ping pong balls,
fake eggs or golf balls will work much better.

Are these newly laying birds?
Have you found any shell left behind...
...if so, are the shells good and hard or thin and brittle?

How are you adding the oyster shells?
What all and how exactly are you feeding?

How big is your coop and run, in feet by feet?
Dimensions and pics, inside and out, would help here.

 

[Missa4848]

This is the space I have for them I usually scatter the oyster shells they've been laying a little over a month and they started eating the eggs about 2 weeks ago and I feed them layena crumbles and I went to my local feed store and bought some ceramic eggs today

 

[Missa4848]

This is the space I have for them I usually scatter the oyster shells they've been laying a little over a month and they started eating the eggs about 2 weeks ago and I feed them layena crumbles and I went to my local feed store and bought some ceramic eggs today

 

[MysticUniKitty]

I had same issue but someone told me to add more protein in their diet, fried up about ten scrambled eggs (i have a lot of chickens) and scattered it after cooled down. They went nuts! But... no more broken eggs! Mine are all new layers too so I'm thinking they just needed extra nourishment.
I looked at your set up too, are they in that fenced area all the time? What are the measurements? It "looks" a little small for them to be in 24/7. There's no magic numbers for correct size run for them, but if they're feeling cramped up in there then that would be another reason for eating their eggs, they're bored. Not saying that is the case just a suggestion to look into.

 

[Missa4848]

I have some extra cd s I'm tryin to figure a way to hang them to a distraction for the chickens bad part is I'm afraid to let them free range because of a loose dogs I'm afraid they're gonna go in someone's yard and a dog or hawk getting them

 

[aart]

Coop shown is too small for 6(?) birds.
Will get worse in winter.
Crowding stress.