Egg eatin hens

[greathorse]

A most tiresome subject and one I hate. I gave some chickens some time ago to a freind of mine and it turns out he cant have them in his neighborhood. Someone ratted him out and AC came knocking. I told him he can bring them back. I have them in a Quaruntine pen. They are laying as he told me they were but they are egg eaters. Evidence of many eggs being eaten. I am not sure if they are all eaters or not. There are five older hens which I suspect but have no way of knowing. I looked at their dirty little faces and so no evidence. The rest of the hens are much younger. I started by putting the older birds in another pen hoping that I have the culprits. Is there any likely hood that it is the older vs. younger hens? I guess I will be building a roll out nest box.

 

[kingmt]

If one bird is eating them then they all are. Chickens jump in to eat anything the others are even if they don't like it. You may only have a few breaking them though. My will eat them also if I keep them in a small pin & they get board but when they have room to move around they are fine.

You need to get the floor sloped so the eggs roll away because the longer they do this the harder it will be to break them.

 

[Buck Creek Chickens]

some time a different environment will break them if they can go outside and/or have something else to do. hang a cabbage/lettuce from the ceiling. finding the culprit will be hard and if its been going on for awhile the dinner table might be your only hope

 

[shaggy]

i've also heard "calcium defficiency"

 

[greathorse]

Yeah these poor guys were in a nasty little pen I should not have taken them backl, but he was in a bind. I cant stand egg eaters. I will cull if I have to. some are a couple years old and I dont really fancy eating them.

 

[TXmom]

How about giving them golf balls or fake eggs...maybe they'll learn that pecking them does no good and they'll get frustrated and quit. Or maybe that's just wishful thinking?

 

[greathorse]

Thanks LOL but I have a bunch of golf balls in there all gummed up from eggs being broken over them. These guys are into it. I have no idea how many eggs they have eaten but it seems a lot given the mess. I t hink they all must be laying but one would never know