Egg Eating Chickens!!!!

[Alleychick]

Ok so i have had so many problems with my hens. First i thought they had a parasite, then they were molting, then they almost pecked on of my girls to death(still dealing with that), now the last straw they are eating the eggs. They are 19 months old have all been together since i brought them home and have never had a minutes trouble, now im losing sleep. I thought they were just molting because they didnt look that great as far as missing feathers, some more than others. So i excpected to get less eggs. That was 2 months ago. Now i find out the reason im not getting any eggs is beacause they are getting them first. We go down 3 times a day to collect eggs and im still not fast enough. What can i possibly do to save my flock from extinction? Which is what my DH will do to them if he finds this little tid bit out!

 

[Uzuri]

Are they nesting-box trained? Roll-out nest boxes will solve your problem. My grandfather always had those; they make collection easy, too.

Others will suggest booby-trapped egg shells and plaster eggs, supposedly they work, though I have my reservations!

 

[Alleychick]

Yes they lay their eggs in nesting boxes. How i finally found out was i walked in yesterday and they were trying to get at something in the one nest box and i looked and all was left was the yolk. I figure they have been eating anywhere from 2 to 6 eggs a day. Whats a roll out box?

 

[Uzuri]

It's a nesting box that's built in such a way that the egg gently rolls into a place where the hens can't get to it.

Wish I had some plans to show you, but I've never built them myself; mine are just now coming into lay.

Here are some commercial ones way down near the bottom of this page:
http://www.strombergschickens.com/products/nests.php

Here's a thread on this site with some pics:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=1463000

And I think if you do a search for "roll out" or "roll away" nesting boxes here on the forum you'll find more. Hope this helps.

 

[Alleychick]

Thanks so much i appreciate your help.

 

[SallyF]

I've also read on this site that some people blow the contents of an egg out and refill it with something chickens don't like (like yellow mustard... hot sauce won't work because they can't taste peppery flavors. Then they put that in the nest so that when the hens break it, they don't like what comes out. Do you know how to blow the contents out of an egg without breaking the shell?

 

[Alleychick]

Haha good question. Not that im aware of.

 

[SallyF]

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If you go to this post, it gives you the instructions on how to do it. The hole you blow into doesn't have to be very big; the hole on the other end, where the contents come out, can be bigger. That way one hole you can just seal with glue, then let dry. Put the mustard in the larger hole, using a squirt bottle of mustard, then you can cover that hole with a piece of duct tape or a bandaid cut to size. The chickens won't notice it. The key to blowing is that you just have to keep a steady pressure going in; if you have a hard time, just enlarge the holes a bit. I think someone on this site also put dish soap in the egg instead of mustard and the chickens didn't like it any better. The idea is to give them a nasty-tasting surprise instead of that delicious just-laid egg!

 

[bwebb7]

I hung curtains around my nest boxes and mine stopped. It is very dark where they lay their eggs now. I got some really cool camoflage material and stapled it around the boxes and a foot and a half above them I then cut it down the middle of each box and stapled it sturdy.