Egg Eating

[Alagirl]

Picked up 2 eggs 15 minutes ago.
Now I am sad, because the RIR is my favorite. The little snit.

 

[Alagirl]

Oh for crying out loud.
with the RIR in solitary, I got 6 eggs in 2 days.

Now another headscratcher:
I thought I knew what hen laid what color egg.
The joys of hatchery birds I guess:
The brown hens lay greenish white eggs. I thought the RIR laid the single brown egg, but no, she is laying pinkish eggs, along with one of the Barred Rocks.
The one I thought was laying eggs with thin shells is the producer of the nice dark
breakfast eggs.

Now, back to square one, as Frankie did not eat her own eggs, is my 8x8 run simpy too small for 5 birds?
Is it a pecking order thing?

 

[rosemarythyme]

Now, back to square one, as Frankie did not eat her own eggs, is my 8x8 run simpy too small for 5 birds?
Is it a pecking order thing?

Weird habit that she picked up at some point (maybe got into the habit after cleaning up a broken or cracked egg)? Boredom? Is there stuff in the run for the chickens to do, or do they get some free range time?

 

[Alagirl]

Weird habit that she picked up at some point (maybe got into the habit after cleaning up a broken or cracked egg)? Boredom? Is there stuff in the run for the chickens to do, or do they get some free range time?

this year has been off the rails.
My husband has been sick since last fall and is in and out of the hospital.
I am happy if I remember to feed the poor girls.
the run is dirt now, I try to give them fresh grass to dig through, but it has also not rained for over a month, so everything is dead.
I give them a half a cup of birdseed in the morning, some dried mealworms in the evening, just for funsies to have them peck something.
If I am not in the yard I don't dare let them out.
The neighbor's dog (a sweet lab) was way too interested, I have a hawk in the area, and my stupid dogs cannot be trusted.
So range time is sporadic. I need to change things, I hope I get to fixing them in the next few weeks
IF I can find my tools.
Because nothing is where it should be or makes sense.
I do need a new nest though
it might have started with a thin shelled one rolling out.

 

[21hens-incharge]

I think the thin shelled eggs are part of the issue.

I also think 1/2 cup of seed for the number of birds you have is to much.

If you are not ready to give up roll away nests may be the way to go.

 

[Alagirl]

I think the thin shelled eggs are part of the issue.

I also think 1/2 cup of seed for the number of birds you have is to much.

If you are not ready to give up roll away nests may be the way to go.

how do you figure that 1/2 cup of mixed seed is too much for 5 birds?

 

[Hopulence]

how do you figure that 1/2 cup of mixed seed is too much for 5 birds?

Do they only eat seed and mealworms? Maybe it's a calcium deficiency leading to thin breakable shells and your RIR feeling the need to eat shells.

Why not get a big feeder and fill it with proper feed once a week or so? That may also be easier for your hectic schedule. If you're feeding mealworms often it may save you money as well long term. Those bugs are expensive!

 

[nuthatched]

Blow an egg out and fill with yellow dish soap, they rarely try twice.

 

[21hens-incharge]

how do you figure that 1/2 cup of mixed seed is too much for 5 birds?

My math may have been off a bit there. A half cup isn't over doing it. Looks like I figured using teaspoons not tablespoons.
Sorry about that.

It is also possible the thin shells are due to a defective shell gland.

I do still vote for roll away nests if you can't stop her from breaking and eating them.

 

[NatJ]

My math may have been off a bit there. A half cup isn't over doing it. Looks like I figured using teaspoons not tablespoons.
Sorry about that.

1/2 cup is 8 tablespoons, or 24 teaspoons. That's if we are using the typical measuring cups found in the USA. If it's half of a "cup" used for drinking, it could easily be more or less because "cups" come in so many sizes.

Whether that is too much will depend on how much you think each bird should get in the day.

Some people limit "treats" to one tablespoon per bird per day. 1/2 cup for 5 birds is more than that. Some other people use higher limits than that. (I am not recommending any particular limit, just weighing in on the numbers/math.)