egg eating!!!

[chkinut]

my girls just started laying and i've got an egg eater in the bunch!!! i think it's my silkie....i saw yolk and a bit of broken shell on her comb. but i don't know if she started it. i did some research on the internet and i read somewhere that if a human touches the egg, the hens may be more likely to eat it. this makes sense in my case cuz i brought a real egg outside and put it in the nest to show them where to lay. BUT, they may have been egg eating BEFORE i noticed this. my question is, if i put fabric over my nest boxes so it makes it dark in there, will that help? and today i took a store bought egg and made a small hole in the top of the egg, emptied the egg, then filled it with horseradish mustard AND straight horseradish! well, it got eaten TOO!!!!

does anyone have any suggestions?

 

[Koolduck]

Fake eggs....either wooden or the old glass darning eggs for peck shock value! Some one in my coop is chowing down too, and I have plastic eggs filled with sand in there....time to get Grandmas darning egg out again. I will just hate it if it gets broken somehow.

 

[robk0220]

We found ceramic eggs at the craft store for $1 each... they work great for teaching... unfortunatley if that doesn't stop it, your only solution is to send the ones with egg on their beaks to the arctic camp.

 

[chkinut]

lol! arctic camp!

funny u mentioned ceramic eggs....i just ordered some over the net....i had to order a feeder anyway, so i ordered the fake eggs too. keep the ideas comin though!

 

[keeko]

Yes, fake eggs or golfballs in the nestboxes.

I had a similar problem several weeks ago, and isolated the culprit IMMEDIATELY. Egg eating spreads like a disease, so you don't want that silkie teaching the others how delicious eggs are! It's a very bad habit, and from what I've heard, nearly impossible to break.

I put up curtains with slits down the middle on the nest boxes, and I think that helps tremendously. "Out of sight, out of mind." Also, make sure they have oyster shells freely, and as many as they want. As well as layer food out all the time. Sometimes it happens out of boredom, hunger or the need for more calcium. I give my girls something to do - the inside of a watermelon smothered with yogurt, or something else fun for them to play with/eat. Keep them active and occupied!

Also, collect eggs frequently. I was out there every 15 minutes for the first few weeks in the morning...it was exhausting! But ::knock on wood:: I think we may have avoided the egg eating spread.

Good luck!

 

[QuinnP]

Arlo loooooooooooooves eggs.

 

[chkinut]

well, i decided to make my own roll-out nest box....and very cheaply! i'm going to purchase a large covered cat litter box....then, find SOMETHING in hubby's shed (a piece of particle board maybe).....have hubby cut 2 slits near the end of the cat litter box so i can slide the particle board in.....leaving about 4 or 5 inches of a gap on the bottom so the egg can roll to the back of the make-shift nest box....and of course, use astro turf or whatever for nesting material so the egg can roll....also, elevate the front of the nest box by using a towel or something....and WA-LA! a roll-out nest box for cheap! i'll let you guys know how it goes.